{"product_id":"the-hanging-of-thomas-jeremiah-a-free-black-mans-encounter-with-liberty-9780300171327","title":"The Hanging of Thomas Jeremiah: A Free Black Man's Encounter with Liberty","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe tragic untold story of how a nation struggling for its freedom denied it to one of its own: a free Black man  \"A searing portrayal of the central paradox of the American Revolutionthe centrality of slavery to the struggle for political liberty.\"Laurel Thatcher Ulrich  Harvard University \"An insightful reflection and commentary on the vexed relationships among liberty  slavery  and the British Empire in the era of the Declaration of Independence.\"Richard D. Brown  The Journal of Law and History Review  In 1775  Thomas Jeremiah was one of fewer than five hundred Free Negros in South Carolina and  with an estimated worth of 1 000 (about $200 000 in todays dollars)  possibly the richest person of African descent in British North America. A slaveowner himself  Jeremiah was falsely accused by whiteswho resented his success as a Charleston harbor pilotof sowing insurrection among slaves at the behest of the British. Chief among the accusers was Henry Laurens  Charlestons leading patriot  a slaveowner and former slave trader  who would later become the president of the Continental Congress. On the other side was Lord William Campbell  royal governor of the colony  who passionately believed that the accusation was unjust and tried to save Jeremiahs life but failed. Though a free man  Jeremiah was tried in a slave court and sentenced to death. In August 1775  he was hanged and his body burned. J. William Harris tells Jeremiahs story in full for the first time  illuminating the contradiction between a nation that would be born in a struggle for freedom and yet deny itoften violentlyto others.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45656154603573,"sku":"ByrdShop_0300171323","price":20.55,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780300171327.jpg?v=1781963517","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-hanging-of-thomas-jeremiah-a-free-black-mans-encounter-with-liberty-9780300171327","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}