The Slaves' Gamble: Choosing Sides in the War of 1812

A sweeping and original look at American slavery in the early nineteenth century that reveals the gamble slaves had to take to survive

Images of American slavery conjure up cotton plantations and African American slaves locked in bondage until the Civil War. Yet early on in the nineteenth century the state of slavery was very different, and the political vicissitudes of the young nation offered diverse possibilities to slaves. In the century's first two decades, the nation waged war against...