Provides an overview of the antebellum slavery debate and its key issues and participants. This book introduces each selection, locating it historically, culturally, and thematically as well as linking it to other writings. The documents represent the full scope of the varied debates over slavery. "The anthology makes available a large body of primary documents, many of them hitherto rare or inaccessible. The texts are expertly chosen and excerpted. Of remarkable variety and scope, they investigate slavery from all angles-pro and con, religious and secular, male and female, scientific and exhortatory, and so on. Their publication is timely and most welcome. The volume also provides an illuminating, superbly comprehensive, insightful, and concise history of the slavery debate."-David S. Reynolds, City University of New York