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The first emancipator : the forgotten story of Robert Carter, the founding father who freed his slaves / Andrew Levy.
Van Pelt Library F229.C334 L485 2005
Available
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Levy, Andrew, 1962-
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Carter, Robert, 1728-1804.
- Carter, Robert.
- Plantation owners--Virginia--Biography.
- Plantation owners.
- Slaveholders--Virginia--Biography.
- Slaveholders.
- Gentry--Virginia--Biography.
- Gentry.
- Revolutionaries--United States--Biography.
- Revolutionaries.
- Enslaved persons--Emancipation.
- Slavery.
- History.
- Enslaved persons--Emancipation--British colonies.
- Enslaved persons--Emancipation--French colonies.
- United States.
- Virginia.
- Enslaved persons--Emancipation--Virginia.
- Enslaved persons.
- Slavery--Virginia--History--18th century.
- Enslaved persons--Emancipation--United States--Case studies.
- Virginia--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775.
- Virginia--History--Revolution, 1775-1783.
- Genre:
- Biographies.
- Case studies.
- Physical Description:
- xviii, 310 pages ; 25 cm
- Edition:
- First edition.
- Place of Publication:
- New York : Random House, [2005]
- Summary:
- A controversial biography of a forgotten member of the revolutionary era; the story of a Virginia aristocrat who, in a stunning and courageous act, freed his slaves and demonstrated that emancipation was a practical choice for the founding Fathers and their generation. In 1791, Robert Carter III, one of the wealthiest planters in Virginia, submitted to the Northumberland District Courthouse a "Deed of Gift," freeing over 450 slaves, more than any American citizen had ever freed or would ever free until Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The First Emancipator provides the first major account of a landmark event in American history, exploring how one rich, powerful man could commit an act of self-sacrificing good that even the Revolutionaries of his time--men like Jefferson and Washington, who were his friends and neighbors--believed was impossible.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages [199]-214) and index.
- ISBN:
- 0375508651
- OCLC:
- 56413293
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