Taking their seats : Massachusetts, 1838-1843
Harlan of Kentucky : 1853-1857
Brown of New England : 1856-1857
Tourgee of Ohio : 1858-1860
The free people of color : New 0rleans, 1860
"The Harlan name" : Kentucky, 1858-1862
"A war of which no man can see the end" : Brown in Detroit, 1860-1864
"For this I am willing to die" : Tourgee on the march, 1861-1863
"Claim your rights" : New Orleans and Washington, 1863-1864
Choosing sides : Harlan in Kentucky, 1865-1871
"A taste for judicial life" : Brown in Detroit, 1866-1872
Tourgee goes South : North Carolina, 1865-1870
Equal but separate : New Orleans and the north, 1867-1871
"Is not Harlan the man?" : Kentucky and Washington, 1875-1878
"Uncongenial strifes" : Brown and Tourgee, 1875-1879
Fool's errand : north and south, 1880-1883
The color line sharpens : 1883-1888
"The Negro question" : Mayville, Washington, and New Orleans, 1889-1890
"On behalf of 7,999,999 of my race" : New Orleans, Mayville, Detroit, and Washington, 1890-1891
Arrest : Mayville and New Orleans, 1892-1893
"You are fighting a great battle" : Washington, Mayville, and New Orleans, 1893-1895
"In the nature of things" : March, April, May 1896
Epilogue.