Introduction
Our Appeal for a Republican Birthright: The Ideology of Black Republicanism before the Civil War
PART I. Caste versus Citizenship in Pennsylvania
Citizens for Protection: The Shadow Politics of Greater Philadelphia, 1780-1842
A Large Body of Negro Votes Have Controlled the Late Election: Black Politics in Pennsylvania, 1790-1838
Coda: The Pennsylvania Default
PART II. The New England Redoubt
All the Black Men Vote for Mr. Otis: Nonracial Politics in the Yankee Republic, 1778-1830
The Colored Men of Portland Have Always Enjoyed All Their Rights: The Politics of Respect
The Very Sebastopol of Niggerdom: Measuring Black Power in New Bedford
We Are True Whigs: Reconstruction in Rhode Island
Coda: The New England Impasse
PART III. The New York Battleground
Negroes Have Votes as Good as Yours or Mine: Coming to Grips in New York, 1777-1821
We Think for Ourselves: Making the Battleground, 1822-1846
Consult the Genius of Expediency: Approaching Power, 1847-1860
Coda: Losing and Winning in the Empire State
PART IV. A Salient on the West
We Do Not Care How Black He Is: Ohio's Black Republicans
Coda: Ohio, Flanked
Conclusion: Going to War
Appendix: Black Leaders and Their Electorates.