Beyond freedom's reach : kidnapping in the twilight of slavery /
Kidnapping in the twilight of slavery
Adam Rothman.
- Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, (c)2015.
- 1 online resource (263 pages) : illustrations, maps
Includes bibliographies and index.
Prologue -- Pointe Coupée -- New Orleans -- War -- Justice -- Reunion -- Epilogue -- Appendix: Rose Herera's petition.
Born into slavery in rural Louisiana, Rose Herera was bought and sold several times before being purchased by the De Hart family of New Orleans. Still a slave, she married and had children, who also became the property of the De Harts. But after Union forces captured New Orleans in 1862 during the American Civil War, Herera's owners fled to Havana, taking three of her small children with them. Just how far the rights of freed slaves extended was unclear to black and white people alike, and so when Mary De Hart returned to New Orleans in 1865 to visit friends, she was surprised to find herself taken into custody as a kidnapper. The case of Rose Herera's abducted children made its way through New Orleans' courts, igniting a custody battle that revealed the prospects and limits of justice during Reconstruction. Rose Herera's perseverance brought her children's plight to the attention of members of the U.S. Senate and State Department, who turned a domestic conflict into an international scandal.
9780674425132
Herrera, Rose, approximately 1835-
African American women--Louisiana--Biography. Freed persons--Louisiana--Biography. Kidnapping--History--United States--19th century. African Americans--Legal status, laws, etc. Custody of children--United States--Case studies. Mother and child--United States--Case studies. Slavery--History--Louisiana--19th century. Slavery--History--Cuba--19th century.