ABSTRACT
On January 30, 1797, John Swanwick, a Pennsylvania Congressman, submitted a petition to the House of Representatives signed by four black men.1 In it the men told their individual stories, which followed a similar pattern: they had been born slaves in North Carolina, manumitted by their owners, and set upon for reenslavement both inside and outside the state. There was no place in the nation where they could live unmolested as free men. Would the Congressmen listen to the petitioners’ pleas and understand the unbearable situation they were in? Would they be moved by their plight, guided by a sense of humanity and justice?
