In Death or Liberty, Douglas R. Egerton offers a sweeping chronicle of African American history stretching from Britain's 1763 victory in the Seven Years' War to the election of slaveholder Thomas Jefferson as president in 1800. - book jacket.

Prologue. The trials of William Lee : a life in the age of revolution -- Equiano's world : the British Atlantic empire in 1763 -- Richard's cup : slavery and the coming of the revolution -- The transformation of Colonel Tye : Black combatants and the war -- Quok Walker's suit : emancipation in the North -- Absalom's "meritorious service" : antislavery in the Upper South -- Captain Vesey's cargo : continuity in Georgia and the Carolinas -- Mum Bett takes a name : the emergence of free Black communities -- Harry Washington's Atlantic crossings : the migrations of Black loyalists -- A suspicion only : racism in the early republic -- Eli Whitney's cotton engine : expansion and rebellion -- General Gabriel's flag : unsuccessful coda to the revolution.