A Slave in the White House: Paul Jennings and the Madisons - Rilegato

Taylor, Elizabeth Dowling

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0230108938 ISBN 13: 9780230108936

Casa editrice: St Martins Pr, 2012

Riassunto

Paul Jennings was born into slavery on the plantation of James and Dolley Madison in Virginia, later becoming part of the Madison household staff at the White House. Once finally emancipated by Senator Daniel Webster later in life, he would give an aged and impoverished Dolley Madison, his former owner, money from his own pocket, write the first White House memoir, and see his sons fight with the Union Army in the Civil War. He died a free man in northwest Washington at 75. Based on correspondence, legal documents, and journal entries rarely seen before, this amazing portrait of the times reveals the mores and attitudes toward slavery of the nineteenth century, and sheds new light on famous characters such as James Madison, who believed the white and black populations could not coexist as equals; French General Lafayette who was appalled by this idea; Dolley Madison, who ruthlessly sold Paul after her husband's death; and many other since forgotten slaves, abolitionists, and civil right activists.

Su questo libro

Recensione:

'[Paul Jennings's] remarkable life sheds new light on the central themes of American history during his lifetime and beyond. Taylor's sensitive reconstruction of one man and his family's experiences yields fresh perspectives on a wide range of subjects, including but hardly limited to James and Dolley Madison, the Montpelier plantation that was their and Jennings's home, the African-American experience under slavery, the world of free blacks in Washington City during the late antebellum era, and the Civil War and its legacy.Scholars and general readers alike will not be able to put this remarkable book down.' - Drew McCoy, history professor at ClarkUniversity and author of The Lastof the Fathers

'Elizabeth Dowling Taylor has presented us with the gift of a new American hero.With precision and compassion, Taylor deftly brings Paul Jennings out of the shadows of history. Writer, property-owner, freedom fighter, husband, and father - Jennings's life reveals the complicated humanity behind the designation 'slave.'This story will humble and inspire all who believe in the American Dream.' - Catherine Allgor, Professor of History at the University of California at Riverside, UC Presidential Chair

Descrizione del libro:

The inspiring story of a presidential slave's long struggle for freedom

Su questa edizione

• Editore: St Martins Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0230108938
• ISBN 13: 9780230108936
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 304