Trouble finding sources? Here is a list of some good sources on slavery during the American Revolution that you can obtain in the library or online.
Some tips:
-
If you are a college student, your student ID works at any college in your state, unless specifically stated otherwise. So, you can check out a book anywhere in your state if you can't get it in your hometown.
-
Your college library should have a program called Inter-Library Loan. This system lets you request an item from another library, such as a book, and they will send it to your library for you to pick it up. It is a free service, and the book is checked out like normal.
-
Ask your local or college library for other options if these options are not available to you. Librarians and Archivists are there to help you!
Primary Sources:
-
The primary sources listed can be found online through Google Books for free.
A Serious Address to the Rulers of America, on the Inconsistency of Their Conduct Respecting Slavery; Forming a Contrast between the Encroachments of England on American Liberty and American Injustice in Tolerating Slavery. [Signed: “A Farmer,” I.e. [David Cooper]. J. Phillips, 1783. (accessed on Google Books).
Avalon Project at Yale Law School. “Constitution of Vermont - July 8, 1777.” Lillian Goldman Law Library. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/vt01.asp#1
Avalon Project at Yale Law School. “Pennsylvania - An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, 1780.” Lillian Goldman Law Library. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/pennst01.asp
Cartwright, John. American Independence the Interest and Glory of Great-Britain: A New Edition. To Which Is Added, a Copious Appendix, Containing ... a Letter to Edmund Burke, Esq; ... And a Postscript, ... author, 1775. (accessed on Google Book).
Ferguson, Adam. Remarks on a Pamphlet Lately Published by Dr. Price: Intitled, Observations on the Nature of Civil Liberty, ... In a Letter from a Gentleman in the Country to a Member of Parliament. Vol. 2. printrd [sic] for T. Cadell, 1776. (accessed on Google Books).
Price, Richard, Edward Dilly, and Charles Dilly. Observations on the Nature of Civil Liberty, the Principles of Government: And, The Justice and Policy of the War with America; to Which Is Added, An Appendix, and Postscript, Containing, a State of the National Debt, an Estimate of the Money Drawn from the Public by the Taxes, and an Account of the National Income and Expenditure Since the Last War. E. and C. Dilly, 1776. (accessed on Google Books).
Sharp, Granville. Extract from A Representation of the Injustice and Dangerous Tendency of Tolerating Slavery: Or Admitting the Least Claim of Private Property in the Persons of Men in England. Joseph Crukshank, in Third-street, opposite the Work-house, 1769.
(accessed on Google Books).
Books:
-
The books mentioned on this website are able to be found in libraries or online for purchase. There are several more books on this subject, so do not be afraid to search for more sources.
Berlin, Ira and Ronald Hoffman. Slavery and Freedom in the Age of the American Revolution. Urbana: Published for the United States Capitol Historical Society by the University of Illinois Press, 1986.
Bradley, Patricia. Slavery, Propaganda, and the American Revolution. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1998.
Davis, David. The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution, 1770-1823. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Slavery and Emancipation. Halpern, De Lago, Rick Halpern, ed. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2002.
Wood, Betty. Slavery in Colonial America, 1619-1776. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005.