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Rohn Hein
Social Justice Author
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The Valet’s Witness by Rohn Hein is a historical novel set during the summer of 1776, as the Second Continental Congress debates American independence. Rather than focusing only on the celebrated founding fathers who shaped the official record, the novel intertwines the perspectives of delegate Edward Rutledge and his enslaved valet Pompey. If you like reading about backroom mechanizations and political maneuvering, you will enjoy reading The Valet’s Witness. The novel describes the political schemes of wealthy South Carolina landowner and lawyer Edward Rutledge (the youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence) as he gains his confidence and stature at the Second Continental Congress to persuade other delegates to remove Jefferson’s “slavery paragraph” in the final version of the Declaration of Independence. The author offers a fresh view of the Second Continental Congress through the imagined conversations of Pompey with the hidden community of enslaved valets as they overhear conversations at City Tavern, the Pennsylvania State House, and private dining rooms as delegates debate independence and scheme to protect the institution of slavery. The author poignantly portrays the reactions of the valets as they first hear of Jefferson’s words in an early draft of the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal” and the “slavery paragraph” that condemned slavery. The valets offer a more critical view of the founders of our nation by exposing the delegates’ pride, egos, and protection of personal interests - almost at the sacrifice of independence. This book offers a morally complicated view of our founding fathers through the eyes of the enslaved valets who witnessed the work of their delegate owners to declare liberty while protecting the institution of slavery.
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