On the Edge of Freedom : The Fugitive Slave Issue in South Central Pennsylvania, 1820-1870.

Cover -- Contents -- List of Tables -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: The Fugitive Slave Issue on the Edge of Freedom -- 1 South Central Pennsylvania, Fugitive Slaves, and the Underground Railroad -- 2 Thaddeus Stevens' Dilemma, Colonization, and the Turbulent Years of Early Antislavery in Adams County, 1835-39 -- 3 Antislavery Petitioning in South Central Pennsylvania -- 4 The Fugitive Slave Issue on Trial: The 1840s in South Central Pennsylvania -- 5 Controversy and Christiana: The Fugitive Slave Issue in South Central Pennsylvania, 1850-51 -- 6 Interlude: Kidnapping, Kansas, and the Rise of Race-Based Partisanship: The Decline of the Fugitive Slave Issue in South Central Pennsylvania, 1852-57 -- 7 Revival of the Fugitive Slave Issue, 1858-61 -- 8 Contrabands, "White Victories," and the Ultimate Slave Hunt: Recasting the Fugitive Slave Issue in Civil War South Central Pennsylvania -- 9 After the Shooting: South Central Pennsylvania after the Civil War -- Conclusion: The Postwar Ramifications of the Fugitive Slave Issue "On the Edge of Freedom" -- Appendixes -- A: Selected Fugitive Slave Advertisements, 1818-28 -- B: 1828 South Central Pennsylvania Petition Opposing Slavery in the District of Columbia -- C: 1847 Gettysburg African American Petition -- D: 1846 Adams County Petition -- E: 1861 Franklin County Pro-Colonization Petition -- F: 1861 Adams County Pro-Colonization Petition -- G: [Second] 1861 Adams County Pro-Colonization Petition -- H: 1861 Doylestown, Bucks County Pro-Colonization Petition -- I: 1861 Newtown, Bucks County Pro-Personal Liberty Law Petition -- Notes -- Archives Consulted -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y.

Describes the development of antislavery activism in border south central Pennsylvania. Rather than engage in public protest, activists concentrated on protecting fugitive slaves and prosecuting those who sought to recapture them. This approach paid dividends before the Civil War, but did not provide a solid basis for equal opportunity afterwards.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.