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H-SHEAR 2011 Conference Panel Proposal Please contact me if you are interested in joining what I anticipate will be a provocative and informative panel. Sue Kozel skozel@kean.edu I am searching for three people to join me in a panel: "A Natural Right to Liberty” - New Findings in Manumission Judgments and Writs of Habeas Corpus Cases from 1786 – 1812. I welcome another panelist and two commentators to share research insights based on local or regional research in the areas of African American, Asian Indian, and/or Native American Manumission judgments or actions, and Writs of Habeas Corpus Cases pending before state Supreme Courts. My present research investigates the Pennsylvania Abolition Society’s Acting Committee minutes (housed in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania archives), cases before the New Jersey Supreme Court, and 18th century abolitionist activities by Quaker entrepreneur Richard Waln of Walnford, NJ. The panelists should be able to discuss primary research findings and also address how these insights are incorporated into class teaching, whether for survey classes, black history, or American History upper level classes. The discussion of newly freed slaves as part of emerging and expanding Free Black communities helps students investigate the conflicted nature of rights and liberties in this period, especially as slavery continues to flourish in post-Revolutionary War America. I can also touch upon manumission certificates filed by individuals in Monmouth and Burlington Counties, New Jersey. Waln used the phrase “a natural right to liberty” in his correspondence to Quaker elders and similar language to Quaker and non-Quaker correspondents in Waln’s efforts to provide background to the PAS (Waln’s papers are split between the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Library of Congress). My paper will focus on African American cases uncovered as part of a New Jersey Historical Commission mini-grant and a small faculty scholarship grant from Ocean County College. If the responses to this “call” only include African American cases, I will modify the panel’s scope. I welcome your panel “partnership” for the SHEAR conference. If interested, please send me your one page abstract and short CV. Don’t forget to indicate which role you would like to fill? Additionally, I welcome the distribution of papers at the conference or posted online. Best wishes. Thank you for considering my request, and I welcome suggestions to alter slightly the focus. Sue Kozel, Kean History Adjunct skozel@kean.edu 609-758-6489
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