Preface -- Slavery in the Shadow of Liberty -- 1: Congress and Slaveryin Context -- The Impact of British Abolitionism on American Sectionalism -- Christian Statesmanship, Codes of Honor, and Congressional Violence: The Antislavery Travails and Triumphs of Joshua Giddings -- Gamaliel Bailey, Antislavery Journalist and Lobbyist -- Saturday Nights at the Baileys' : Building an Antislavery Movement in Congress, 1838-1854 -- "A nest of rattlesnakes let loose among them" : Congressional Debates over Women's Antislavery Petitions, 1835-1845 -- Debating Slavery by Proxy: The Texas Annexation Controversy -- 2: The Politics of Slavery in the District of Columbia -- The 1846 Retrocession of Alexandria: Protecting Slavery and the Slave Trade in the District of Columbia -- "Whether they be ours or no, they may be heirs of the kingdom" : The Pursuit of Family Ties among Enslaved People in the District of Columbia -- The 1848 Pearl Escape from Washington, D.C. : A Convergence of Opportunity, Motivation, and Political Action in the Nation's Capital -- Celebrating Emancipation and Contesting Freedom in Washington, D.C. -- Contributors -- Index.