| Preface | [7-8] |
| I. | Introduction of Slavery into Tennessee | [9-24] |
| I. | The status of the negro in North Carolina, 1693-1790 | [12-21] |
| | A. | Privileges | [12-18] |
| | B. | Restrictions | [18-21] |
| II. | The status of the negro in the Franklin State, 1785-1788 | [22-23] |
| III. | The status of the negro in the Southwest Territory, 1790-1796 | [23-24] |
| II. | The Status of the Slave in Tennessee, 1796-1865 | [25-58] |
| I. | The Privileges of Slaves | [25-30] |
| | A. | Hunting | [25-26] |
| | B. | Travel | [26] |
| | C. | Suits for freedom | [26-28] |
| | D. | Trial by Jury | [28-30] |
| II. | Disabilities of Slaves | [30-33] |
| III. | Relations of Master and Society | [34-38] |
| | A. | Liabilities of the master to society | [34-36] |
| | | 1. | For his own acts | [34-35] |
| | | 2. | For the acts of his slaves | [35-36] |
| | B. | Liabilities of society to the master | [36-38] |
| IV. | The Patrol System | [38-41] |
| V. | Special Problems of Slave Government | [41-52] |
| | A. | The runaway | [41-43] |
| | B. | Importation of slaves | [43-44] |
| | C. | The stealing of slaves | [44-45] |
| | D. | Trading with slaves | [46-49] |
| | E. | Insurrections | [49-50] |
| | F. | Unlawful assembly of slaves | [50-51] |
| | G. | Punishment of slaves | [51-52] |
| VI. | Title of Slaves | [52-55] |
| VII. | The Law of Increase | [55-56] |
| VIII. | The Legal Status of the Slave | [56-58] |
| III. | Economics of Slavery in Tennessee | [59-79] |
| I. | Slavery an Expression of the Soil | [59-64] |
| II. | The Management of the Plantation | [64-72] |
| III. | Was Slavery Profitable in Tennessee? | [72-79] |
| IV. | Anti-Slavery Societies | [80-101] |
| I. | The Tennessee Manumission Society | [80-89] |
| II. | The Humane Protecting Society | [89] |
| III. | The Emancipation Labor Society | [89-91] |
| IV. | The Moral, Religious Manumission Society of West Tennessee | [91-94] |
| V. | The Tennessee Colonization Society | [94-101] |
| V. | The Religious and Social Aspects of Slavery | [102-152] |
| I. | The Methodists | [104-125] |
| II. | The Baptists | [125-131] |
| III. | Cumberland Presbyterians | [131-136] |
| IV. | The Friends | [136-139] |
| V. | The Presbyterians | [139-148] |
| VI. | The Episcopalians | [148-152] |
| VI. | The Legal Status of the Free Negro | [153-175] |
| I. | The Establishment of a Policy | [153-160] |
| | A. | The policy of North Carolina | [153] |
| | B. | The policy of Tennessee in 1831 | [153] |
| | C. | Changes in the policy from 1831 to 1865 | [153-160] |
| II. | System of Registration of Free Negroes | [161-162] |
| III. | Protection of Free Negroes | [162] |
| IV. | Suffrage for Free Negroes | [162-173] |
| | A. | In North Carolina | [162-164] |
| | B. | In the Convention of 1796 | [164-167] |
| | C. | From 1796 to 1834 | [167-168] |
| | D. | Its abolition by the Convention of 1834 | [168-173] |
| V. | Limitations upon the freedom of free negroes | [173] |
| VI. | The Status of the Free Negro | [174-175] |
| VII. | Abolition | [176-198] |
| I. | Private Abolition | [176-180] |
| | A. | Methods | [176-179] |
| | | (1) | By Deed. | |
| | | (2) | By Will. | |
| | | (3) | By Bill of Sale. | |
| | | (4) | By Implication. | |
| | | (5) | By Effect of Foreign Laws. | |
| | B. | Extent of Emancipation in Tennessee | [179-180] |
| II. | Anti-slavery Leaders | [180-185] |
| III. | Abolition Literature | [185-187] |
| IV. | Petitions to the Legislature for Abolition | [187-189] |
| V. | Abolition in the Convention of 1834 | [189-195] |
| VI. | Abolition Sentiment after 1834 | [195-198] |
| VIII. | Conclusions | [199-202] |
| IX. | Bibliography | [202-209] |
| X. | Appendices | [209-213] |
| A. | Anti-Slavery Societies of Tennessee | [209] |
| B. | Tennessee Colonization Society | [209] |
| C. | Anti-Slavery Leaders in Tennessee | [210] |
| D. | List of Emigrants | [210-211] |
| E. | Vice-President of American Colonization Society from Tennessee | [211] |
| F. | Comparative List of Manumission Societies and Members in the United States | [211] |
| G. | Slave and Free Negro Population in Tennessee | [212] |
| H. | Comparative Value of Land and Slaves in the Three Divisions of Tennessee, 1859 | [212] |
| I. | Approximate Value of Property, Slaves, Land, and Cotton in Tennessee, 1859 | [212] |
| J. | Classification of Slaveholders in Tennessee and the United States, on the basis of number of slaves held, 1860 | [213] |