A Madman's Will: John Randolph, Four Hundred Slaves, and the Mirage of Freedom


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Description

Few legal cases in American history are as riveting as the controversy surrounding the will of Virginia Senator John Randolph (1773-1833), which--almost inexplicably--freed all 383 of his slaves in one of the largest and most publicized manumissions in American history. So famous is the case that Ta-Nehisi Coates has used it to condemn Randolph's cousin, Thomas Jefferson, for failing to free his own slaves. With this groundbreaking investigation, historian Gregory May now reveals a more surprising story, showing how madness and scandal shaped John Randolph's wildly shifting attitudes toward his slaves--and how endemic prejudice in the North ultimately deprived the freedmen of the land Randolph had promised them. Sweeping from the legal spectacle of the contested will through the freedmen's dramatic flight and horrific reception in Ohio, A Madman's Will is an extraordinary saga about the alluring promise of freedom and its tragic limitations.



Author: Gregory May
Publisher: Liveright Publishing Corporation
Published: 04/11/2023
Pages: 416
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.54lbs
Size: 9.25h x 6.37w x 1.38d
ISBN13: 9781324092216
ISBN10: 1324092211
BISAC Categories:
- History | United States | 19th Century
- Biography & Autobiography | Historical
- Biography & Autobiography | Political