Before the Civil War, colonization schemes and black laws threatened to deport former slaves born in the United States. We talk to Martha S. Jones about how African American remade national belonging through battles in legislatures, conventions, and courthouses and reclaim their right to citizenship.
Guest: Martha S. Jones is the Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor and Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University, and Co-President of the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians. She is the author of Birthright Citizens: A History of Race and Rights in Antebellum America.