Scored for vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra set to text from historical documents on the topic of slavery. The oratorio is influenced by the music of Africa as well as composers, Carissimi, Handel, Bartok, and Tippett. The African American tradition of Negro Spirituals, the Blues, and Jazz were also inspirational.

In 2002, commissioned by the Cantata Singers of Boston, Anderson composed the oratorio “Slavery Documents 2,” based on public documents of American slaves and slaveholders. The work is conceived as a companion to Donald Sur’s “Slavery Documents,” which the Cantata Singers premiered in 1990. Drawing material from Loren Schweininger’s collection The Southern Debate Over Slavery, the composer asked himself, “Why would anyone want to write a composition about slavery at the beginning of the 21st century?” His answer: “There is now a recognition that racism in America has its foundation in slavery, and we as Americans must address the remaining issues.”

In a program note for the 2002 premiere, Marilyn Richardson wrote, “The resulting libretto incorporates petitions for justice, laments keened in response to unspeakable physical and psychological violence, the defiant words of fugitives acting against all but impossible odds to claim the right to their own lives, and transcendent expressions of deliverance.”