In the Shadow of the Civil War: Passmore Williamson and the Rescue of Jane Johnson

by Nat Brandt and Yanna Kroyt Brandt

Book Overview

A heroic tale of personal sacrifices in the cause of liberty, foreshadowing the national conflict that followed

Six years before the onset of the Civil War, two courageous figures--one a free white man and one an enslaved black woman--risked personal liberty to ensure each other's freedom in an explosive episode that captured the attention of a nation on the brink of cataclysmic change. In this deeply researched account of the rescue...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 157003687X
• ISBN13: 9781570036873
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: University of South Carolina Press
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.4" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

In The Shadow of the Civil War

This is an excellant book for those with an interest in how the Fugitive law of 1850 was applied. The book is based on the trial of a slave named Jane Jackson who took advantage of Pennsylvania's freedom law, that states that once a slave sets foot on Pennsylvanis's soil they are free. The main character in the story though is not Ms. Jackson but a white abolitionist named Passmore Williamson who "aided" Ms. Jackson and here two children in their escape for there owner" a Col. John Hill Wheeler an U.S. diplomat on his way to Central American and was passing through Philadelphia when Williamson with the help of some black dock workers and ships crew made the snatch and relese of the Jackson family. The story has no real clear cut conclusion and is a telling tale of how often U.S. courts can be less the conclusive in there findings. If you are a Civil War bluff who is interested in the war beyond the battles and personalities this makes a good read.