A House Divided: Slavery and Emancipation in Delaware, 1638-1865

Delaware stood outside the primary streams of New World emancipation. Despite slavery's virtual demise in that state during the antebellum years and Delaware's staunch Unionism during the Civil War itself, the state failed to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment, which prohibits slavery, until 1901. Patience Essah here examines the introduction, evolution, demise, and final abolition of slavery in Delaware. In deomnstrating the persistence of slavery in Delaware, she raises important questions about postslavery race relations.