Author Description

Raised amid Virginia's wealthiest slaveholders, Edwards Coles (1789-1868) was a close associate of many of the nation's leaders, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison among them. And, like Jefferson, he believed the institution of slavery to be morally and ideologically wrong. Yet, unlike Jefferson and most of his Southern contemporaries, Coles willingly put his principles to action by freeing his own slaves. For this honourable action, and for his continued anti-slavery efforts while serving as governor of Illinois from 1822 to 1826, Edward Coles stands as a singular figure in America's post-Revolutionary history. "Confronting Slavery" will be a much-welcomed contribution to the study of slavery and social activism in nineteenth-century America.