American History in the Age of Slavery: Presidents Washington and Adams (1793-1801) (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798877006140)

American History in the Age of Slavery: Presidents Washington and Adams (1793-1801) re-centers the founding years of the U.S. presidency around slavery's legal entrenchment, economic function, and political management. Rather than treat slavery as backdrop, this volume makes it the organizing principle of early federal governance-from the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act to Washington's strategic rotation of enslaved workers in the capital, to Adams' quiet entanglements with a system he publicly disdained.

Drawing on legal history, colonial administration, and Black political presence, the book situates slavery not as contradiction but as infrastructure-binding states, courts, and commerce. It also tracks African-descended people in early New York, Philadelphia, and the emerging capital, showing how enslaved and free Black individuals shaped and resisted these systems.

Ideal for readers of American political development, constitutional history, and critical slavery studies.

1. Washington and slavery founding years

2. Fugitive Slave Act 1793 presidential history

3. Slavery and early U.S. law

4. Founders slaveholders hypocrisy

5. Black history New York 1790s

6. Constitution and race power

7. Adams administration slavery policy

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