"Are we willing to grant this liberty to all men?" : ambivalence in the revolutionary era
"The liberty of emancipating their slaves" : the practice of manumission, 1782-1806
"Deep-rooted prejudices" : race and the problem of emancipation, 1782-1806
"White Negroes" and "inchoate freedom" : life after manumission
A "contest for power" : slavery and emancipation become political issues in the 1820s
The "most momentous subject of public interest" : the public debate over slavery and emancipation, 1831-1832
Epilogue
Appendix A : religion of manumitters in deeds of manumission whose religious affiliation could be identified
Appendix B : petitions regarding slavery, emancipation, and colonization sent to the House of Delegates in 1831-1832.