Liberty's Chain
Slavery, Abolition, and the Jay Family of New York

Quick! Name an American who wrote widely and publicly and repeatedly before 1860 that slavery in the United States should be abolished. Very few of us can get beyond William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass, if that far. The story of the movement for abolition of chattel slavery in all of the s......more

This book works as a family biography with a specific focus on slavery, abolitionism, and the striving for racial equality. The book begins with a brief introduction on how the Jay family fled France during the Huguenot persecution and settled in New York. It then slows down to take a closer look at......more

Very interesting book on the history of the Jay family and their role in fighting for the end of slavery in America. I would have given the book a higher rating except for the fact that I felt it quite often got bogged down in too much unnecessary detail. The book focuses mainly on 3 members of the......more

David Gellman’s Liberty’s Chain is a fascinating look at the relationship between the Jay family and slavery through multiple generations. Starting with the Founding Father, John Jay, and then his son and grandson, Gellman looks at how their views on slavery began to change and evolve during the tim......more

A scholarly, in-depth and detailed multi-generational exploration of the Jay family and their complex and sometimes conflicted attitude to slavery and abolition. John Jay, one of America’s founding fathers, is not perhaps such a well-known figure as, for example George Washington or Benjamin Frankli......more