Description
The real story, alternatively, is a lot more complicatedand dramaticthan that. With Who Freed the Slaves?, distinguished historian Leonard L. Richards tells the little-known story of the battle over the Thirteenth Amendment, and of James Ashley, the unsung Ohio congressman who proposed the amendment and steered it to passage. Taking readers to the floor of Congress and the back rooms where deals were made, Richards brings to life the messy process of legislationa process made all of the more complicated by the bloody war and the deep-rooted fear of black emancipation. We watch as Ashley proposes, fine-tunes, and pushes the amendment At the same time as Lincoln drags his feet, only coming aboard and providing an important toughen at the last minute. At the same time as emancipation became the law of the land, Richards shows, its opponents were already regrouping, beginning what would grow to be a decades-longand largely successfulfight to limit the amendment’s have an effect on.
Who Freed the Slaves? is a masterwork of American history, presenting a surprising, nuanced portrayal of a an important moment for the nation, one whose effects are still being felt today.