The first Reconstruction: Black politics in America from the Revolution to the Civil War

Introduction

Our Appeal for a Republican Birthright: The Ideology of Black Republicanism before the Civil War

PART I. Caste versus Citizenship in Pennsylvania

Citizens for Protection: The Shadow Politics of Greater Philadelphia, 1780-1842

A Large Body of Negro Votes Have Controlled the Late Election: Black Politics in Pennsylvania, 1790-1838

Coda: The Pennsylvania Default

PART II. The New England Redoubt

All the Black Men Vote for Mr. Otis: Nonracial Politics in the Yankee Republic, 1778-1830

The Colored Men of Portland Have Always Enjoyed All Their Rights: The Politics of Respect

The Very Sebastopol of Niggerdom: Measuring Black Power in New Bedford

We Are True Whigs: Reconstruction in Rhode Island

Coda: The New England Impasse

PART III. The New York Battleground

Negroes Have Votes as Good as Yours or Mine: Coming to Grips in New York, 1777-1821

We Think for Ourselves: Making the Battleground, 1822-1846

Consult the Genius of Expediency: Approaching Power, 1847-1860

Coda: Losing and Winning in the Empire State

PART IV. A Salient on the West

We Do Not Care How Black He Is: Ohio's Black Republicans

Coda: Ohio, Flanked

Conclusion: Going to War

Appendix: Black Leaders and Their Electorates.