American Slavery, American Freedom
The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia

In this study of the tragic contradiction at the heart of America, Edward Morgan looks for answers to the people and politics of Virginia - a state that was both the birthplace of the revolution and the largest slaveholding state in the country.

"If it is possible to understand the American paradox, the marriage of slavery and freedom, Virginia is surely the place to begin," writes Edmund S. Morgan in "American Slavery, American Freedom," a study of the tragic contradiction at the core of America. Morgan finds the key to this central paradox in the people and politics of the state that was both the birthplace of the revolution and the largest slaveholding state in the country. With a new introduction. Winner of the Francis Parkman Prize and the Albert J. Beveridge Award.