Description
Book SynopsisA fascinating documentary history of the fugitive slave case that captivated the nation-and inspired Toni Morrison's acclaimed novel Beloved.
Trade Review"Mark Reinhardt’s thoughtful presentation does American identity a tremendous favor. Although the theater may already have introduced Margaret Garner's sensational tragedy, only now can we follow her excruciating transit through competing jurisdictions and contentious representations. Reinhardt grapples honestly with the fine grain of racial subordination on the eve of the Civil War, paying attention to the silences of forgetting as well as the record of remembering." —Nell Irvin Painter, author of Sojourner Truth: A Life, a Symbol
"Of all the fugitive slave cases, the Margaret Garner case was singular. Reinhardt’s comprehensive volume documents the full panoply of the public argument, in the courts and the popular media, North and South, over the meaning of Garner’s actions as a freedom-seeking slave mother. Who Speaks for Margaret Garner? shows us why any effort to reclaim the ever-elusive Garner today must reckon with those who tried to speak for and against her more than 150 years ago." —William L. Andrews, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Table of ContentsContents
Preface
Introduction: A Strange Case?
Documents
1. Escape and Capture
2. In the Commissioner's Court
3. Return
4. Requisition?
5. Whose Sovereignty? Courts in Conflict
6. The Ohio Legislature Responds: Debate on the Floor
7. The Battle in the Press: Editorials on the Murder
8. The Battle in the Press: Editorials on the Trial, Return, and Requisition
9. Silence in the Deep South: The Case of Charleston, South Caroline
10. Speeches, Sermons, and "Interviews"
11. Final Developments
12. Literary Sources, Literary Echoes
Acknowledgments
Appendix: Text of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
Chronology of Key Events (1856-1871)
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
