The Roving Editor

Printed in 1859, this book gathers the conversations that James Redpath, a journalist and antislavery writer, held with enslaved people during his journeys across the American South. Rather than presenting slavery through distant commentary, it lets those he met speak in their own words about their daily lives, labor and hopes, offering a firsthand record of the period.

Redpath traveled as an observer who wanted to hear directly from those held in bondage. The result is a work of historical testimony that documents conditions in Southern states on the eve of the Civil War, making it of interest to readers studying slavery, abolition and the political tensions that led to the conflict.