Table of Contents

1. Intro/Metaphor
2. Peter's Dual Redemption
3. The Three Daughters of Marie Scypion
4. Winny and Her Children: Freedom by Residence
5. The Kidnap of Lydia's Children
6. John Merry also known as Jean Marie: Birthright Freedom
7. David Shipman
8. The Duncan Brothers: Black and White
9. Leah Charleville: Working It
10. Sex and Servitude
11. Yours Truly, Lucy Delaney
12. The Slaves of Milton Duty: Redeeming a Promise Made
13. Canadienne Rose: Were There Slaves in Canada?
14. The Final Chapter

About the Author

Lea VanderVelde is Professor of Law at the University of Iowa and author of Mrs. Dred Scott.

Reviews

"Redemption Songs is a much-needed addition to the historiography of slavery, American legal history, and the history of the legal profession in the United States."--Annette Gordon-Reed, Journal of American History
"Of the more than 300 newly discovered suits filed during this period, the author examines 12 in detail. The cases reveal much about freedom and the law of slavery in the antebellum West....This book goes a long way toward filling the vacuum in which the Dred Scott decision has for so long existed."--CHOICE
"[VanderVelde's] impressive collection paints a broad, incisive, and intriguing portrait of the condition of African Americans in the years preceding the Supreme Court's infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision....These cases...provide curious historians vivid insights into the values and customs of an era quite at odds with our own."--Gateway Magazine
"VanderVelde makes palpable the bravery and fortitude of the men and women who sought freedom for themselves and their families."--Kirkus
"A landmark volume in our understanding of the law of slavery. VanderVelde's Redemption Songs is the indispensable capstone to almost two decades of pathbreaking research."--John Fabian Witt, author of Lincoln's Code
"Carefully examining recently unearthed court documents, census records, and much more, Lea VanderVelde constructs a nuanced portrait of slavery and freedom in the antebellum West. This is an important contribution to our understanding of slavery and its legal history."--Mark Tushnet, Harvard Law School
"Lea VanderVelde's Redemption Songs is a stunning account of the efforts of ordinary African Americans to secure freedom through the courts. In graceful prose, VanderVelde highlights the surprising promise of freedom suits but also the staggering toll the effort took on those who turned to them. Recovering the voices of those long thought voiceless, VanderVelde tells even experts things we did not know. Equally important, she brings to life things
we know in theory."--Michael Les Benedict, Ohio State University