In the Shadow of Freedom: The Politics of Slavery in the National Capital

Preface

vii Preface This volume฀stems฀from฀the฀U.S.฀Capitol฀Historical฀Society฀Meeting฀in฀ 2006,฀the฀third฀conference฀I฀had฀the฀privilege฀of฀organizing฀with฀my฀coeditor ,฀Don฀Kennon.฀every฀spring฀the฀United฀States฀Capitol฀Historical฀Society฀ (USCHS)฀holds฀a฀scholarly฀conference฀on฀an฀aspect฀of฀American฀history฀ that฀focuses฀on฀Congress,฀the฀nation’s฀capital,฀and฀the฀federal฀government.฀ My฀work฀with฀the฀USCHS฀began฀in฀2004฀with฀a฀conference฀on฀Congress฀in฀ the 1820s followed by a conference in 2005฀on฀Congress฀in฀the฀Age฀of฀Jackson.฀ The papers from those two conferences were combined in Congress and the Emergence of Sectionalism: From the Missouri Compromise to the Age of Jackson. This volume฀follows,฀with฀essays฀on฀how฀slavery฀affected฀life฀in฀Washington,฀D.C.,฀ and how slavery affected politics in the capital. ฀ The฀issues฀are฀interrelated.฀Congress฀met฀in฀a฀slaveholding฀city.฀Antislavery฀ congressmen฀had฀to฀face฀the฀reality฀of฀slavery฀every฀day,฀and฀make฀compromises with the institution, even when they did not want to do so. Slaves were everywhere,฀working฀in฀the฀places฀congressmen฀lived,฀serving฀in฀the฀restaurants ฀at฀which฀they฀ate,฀and฀driving฀the฀horse-drawn฀carriages฀in฀which฀they฀ rode.฀Southerners฀also฀had฀to฀face฀the฀reality฀of฀a฀slave฀city฀with฀a฀growing฀ free฀black฀population฀and฀an฀increasingly฀discontented฀slave฀population.฀The฀ constant฀attempts฀of ฀slaves฀to฀escape฀bondage—illustrated฀by฀the฀story฀of฀ The Pearl, which is set out in this volume—illustrates how southerners could not฀easily฀and฀comfortably฀live฀in฀Washington฀with฀the฀myth฀that฀their฀slaves฀ were฀happy฀and฀contented.฀This฀social฀reality฀of฀slavery฀affected฀the฀congressional debates over slavery in the territories, the annexation of Texas, and southern฀demands฀for฀a฀new฀fugitive฀slave฀law.฀In the Shadow of Freedom: The Politics of Slavery in the National Capital explores all of these interrelated themes. ฀ As฀always,฀it฀was฀an฀enormous฀pleasure฀working฀with฀Don฀Kennon฀on฀ the฀conference฀and฀on฀the฀book.฀Don฀is฀a฀thoughtful,฀careful฀scholar฀and฀ editor. His staff at the USCHS makes our conference run smoothly. Both Don฀and฀I฀owe฀a฀great฀debt฀to฀his฀staff,฀especially฀Lauren฀Borchard฀and฀Felicia฀ Bell.฀We฀are฀also฀greatly฀indebted฀to฀our฀editor฀at฀Ohio฀University฀Press,฀ gillian฀Berchowitz.฀She฀is฀smart,฀helpful,฀and฀creative.฀And,฀as฀with฀all฀great฀ viii Preface editors,฀she฀knows฀just฀how฀to฀cajole฀late฀authors฀and฀editors฀to฀get฀their฀ work฀in.฀Working฀with฀her฀is฀always฀an฀enormous฀pleasure.฀The฀staff฀at฀Ohio฀ University Press, especially our project editor, Rick Huard, rounds out a great฀team. ฀ Most฀of฀all,฀we฀are฀indebted฀to฀the฀colleagues฀who฀come฀to฀our฀conference ฀to฀share฀their฀ideas฀and฀knowledge฀and฀to฀interact฀with฀each฀other฀and฀ with the audience. Their papers—published here—reflect their dedication to interdisciplinary scholarship, history, and the life of the mind. Some of these฀papers฀are฀the฀work฀of฀younger฀scholars,฀offering฀new฀ideas฀and฀new฀ research;฀some฀reflect฀a฀lifetime฀of฀work฀by฀some฀of฀the฀great฀masters฀of฀our฀ profession. The authors come from different disciplines, but all are historians dedicated฀to฀the฀craft฀of฀understanding,฀explaining,฀and฀learning฀from฀our฀ past.฀Don฀and฀I฀learned฀much฀from฀organizing฀the฀conference฀and฀editing฀ these chapters. We hope our readers will as well. Paul Finkelman In the Shadow of Freedom ...