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Tyrannicide: Forging an American Law of Slavery in Revolutionary South Carolina and Massachusetts
Tyrannicide uses a captivating narrative to unpack the experiences of slavery and slave law in South Carolina and Massachusetts during the Revolutionary Era. In 1779, during the midst of the American Revolution, thirty- four South Carolina slaves escaped aboard a British privateer and survived several naval battles until the Massachusetts brig Tyrannicide led them to Massachusetts. Over the next four years, the slaves became the center of a legal dispute between the two states. The case affected slave law and highlighted the profound differences between how the “terrible institution” was practiced in the North and the South, in ways that would foreground issues eventually leading to the Civil War.
Emily Blanck uses the Tyrannicide affair and the slaves involved as a lens through which to view contrasting slaveholding cultures and ideas of African American democracy. Blanck’s examination of the debate analyzes crucial questions: How could the colonies unify when they viewed one of America’s foundational institutions in fundamentally different ways? How would fugitive slaves be handled legally and ethically? Blanck shows how the legal and political battles that resulted from the affair reveal much about revolutionary ideals and states’ rights at a time when notions of the New Republic—and philosophies about the unity of American states—were being created.
Emily Blanck uses the Tyrannicide affair and the slaves involved as a lens through which to view contrasting slaveholding cultures and ideas of African American democracy. Blanck’s examination of the debate analyzes crucial questions: How could the colonies unify when they viewed one of America’s foundational institutions in fundamentally different ways? How would fugitive slaves be handled legally and ethically? Blanck shows how the legal and political battles that resulted from the affair reveal much about revolutionary ideals and states’ rights at a time when notions of the New Republic—and philosophies about the unity of American states—were being created.
- GenresHistory
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 29, 2014
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
Tyrannicide: Forging an American Law of Slavery in Revolutionary South Carolina and Massachusetts examines the legal decisions related to slaves and slave ownership in pre- and post-Revolution America by focusing on a specific event: the escape of 34 slaves on the ship Tyrannicide from South Carolina to Massachusetts. Author Emily Blanck deftly weaves portions of the slaves' narratives with historical facts and general trends in the colonies and creates an exhaustive work on North/South relations before the Civil War.
Blanck notes that the Tyrannicide affair forced colonial America to consider three questions about slavery, race, and the relationship of the colonies:
What role would slavery play in a society built on the Declaration of Independence?
How would white revolutionaries respond to the black freedom struggle during this period?
How could America secure its national unity when the states differed so deeply in their responses to the first two questions?
And Blanck provides the reader with a comprehensive examination of these questions, reviewing the historical, political, social, and even religious aspects of each and how different groups chose to answer. The easiest answer is that Massachusetts (aka, the North) supported the end of slavery and black freedom and that South Carolina (aka, the South) supported the concept of slaves as property with limited rights. But Blanck makes it clear that things were not so black-and-white and that there were many variations in how communities, versus states as a group, answered these questions. For example, in Massachusetts there was an early effort to end slavery, but because the businesses there did not benefit from the use of slaves as did the South and that most of the population did not want freed blacks in their communities.
What was most eye opening to me throughout the book - in addition to the lives of slaves, which Blanck does an excellent job of illuminating - is how tenuous and loose the early colonies were as a unified country. It becomes clear how any number of issues, including the slavery question, could have easily torn the early country apart and only through tireless work and compromise did the union come to exist. But those early tensions remained and you can see the kernels of the Civil War throughout this book. I would highly recommend it for anyone interested in learning about colonial America, slavery, early race relations, or American history.
Tyrannicide: Forging an American Law of Slavery in Revolutionary South Carolina and Massachusetts examines the legal decisions related to slaves and slave ownership in pre- and post-Revolution America by focusing on a specific event: the escape of 34 slaves on the ship Tyrannicide from South Carolina to Massachusetts. Author Emily Blanck deftly weaves portions of the slaves' narratives with historical facts and general trends in the colonies and creates an exhaustive work on North/South relations before the Civil War.
Blanck notes that the Tyrannicide affair forced colonial America to consider three questions about slavery, race, and the relationship of the colonies:
What role would slavery play in a society built on the Declaration of Independence?
How would white revolutionaries respond to the black freedom struggle during this period?
How could America secure its national unity when the states differed so deeply in their responses to the first two questions?
And Blanck provides the reader with a comprehensive examination of these questions, reviewing the historical, political, social, and even religious aspects of each and how different groups chose to answer. The easiest answer is that Massachusetts (aka, the North) supported the end of slavery and black freedom and that South Carolina (aka, the South) supported the concept of slaves as property with limited rights. But Blanck makes it clear that things were not so black-and-white and that there were many variations in how communities, versus states as a group, answered these questions. For example, in Massachusetts there was an early effort to end slavery, but because the businesses there did not benefit from the use of slaves as did the South and that most of the population did not want freed blacks in their communities.
What was most eye opening to me throughout the book - in addition to the lives of slaves, which Blanck does an excellent job of illuminating - is how tenuous and loose the early colonies were as a unified country. It becomes clear how any number of issues, including the slavery question, could have easily torn the early country apart and only through tireless work and compromise did the union come to exist. But those early tensions remained and you can see the kernels of the Civil War throughout this book. I would highly recommend it for anyone interested in learning about colonial America, slavery, early race relations, or American history.
September 11, 2023
Great book for those interested in American history, the American Revolution, or the history of slavery. Compares and contrasts slavery in South Carolina and Massachusetts. Massachusetts had been a free state since the 18th century, while South Carolina kept slavery until the end of the Civil War period. Discusses the differences between these states and their lifestyles, especially analyzing the states and slavery on a legal level.
June 12, 2017
Fascinating story about an important part of US history. Well written and well researched.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews