Appealing for Liberty

Sweeping in scope, Appealing for Liberty gives voice to the enslaved African Americans who appealed their freedom in court, drawing from more than two thousand suits and the testimony of more than four thousand plaintiffs from the Revolutionary Era to the Civil War. Through the petitions, evidence, and testimony introduced in these court proceedings, the lives of the enslaved come sharply and poignantly into focus, as do many other aspects of southern society.