Slavery and Politics in the Early American Republic - Hardcover

Mason, Matthew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807830496 ISBN 13: 9780807830499

Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press, 2006

Synopsis

Giving close consideration to previously neglected debates, Matthew Mason challenges the common contention that slavery held little political significance in America until the Missouri Crisis of 1819. Mason demonstrates that slavery and politics were enmeshed in the creation of the nation, and in fact there was never a time between the Revolution and the Civil War in which slavery went uncontested.

The American Revolution set in motion the split between slave states and free states, but Mason explains that the divide took on greater importance in the early nineteenth century. He examines the partisan and geopolitical uses of slavery, the conflicts between free states and their slaveholding neighbors, and the political impact of African Americans across the country.

Offering a full picture of the politics of slavery in the crucial years of the early republic, Mason demonstrates that partisans and patriots, slave and free — and not just abolitionists and advocates of slavery — should be considered important players in the politics of slavery in the United States.

About this title

About the Author

Matthew Mason is assistant professor of history at Brigham Young University. He is coeditor of The History of the Life and Adventures of Mr. Anderson, by Edward Kimber.

From the Inside Flap

Giving close consideration to previously neglected debates, Matthew Mason challenges the common contention that slavery held little political significance in America until the Missouri Crisis of 1819. Mason demonstrates that slavery and politics were enmeshed in the creation of the nation, and in fact there was never a time between the Revolution and the Civil War in which slavery went uncontested.

Edition details

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807830496
• ISBN 13: 9780807830499
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352