Written as a narrative history of slavery within the United States, Unrequited Toil details how an institution that seemed to be disappearing at the end of the American Revolution rose to become the most contested and valuable economic interest in the nation by 1850. Calvin Schermerhorn charts changes in the family lives of enslaved Americans, exploring the broader processes of nation-building in the United States, growth and intensification of national and international markets, the institutionalization of chattel slavery, and the growing relevance of race in the politics and society of the republic. In chapters organized chronologically, Schermerhorn argues that American economic development relied upon African Americans' social reproduction while simultaneously destroying their intergenerational cultural continuity. He explores the personal narratives of enslaved people and develops themes such as politics, economics, labor, literature, rebellion, and social conditions.
Tracing the sectionalization of American politics in the 1840s and 1850s, Michael Morrison offers a comprehensive study of how slavery and territorial expansion intersected as causes of the Civil War.
Katherine Franke makes a powerful case for reparations for Black Americans by amplifying the stories of formerly enslaved people and calling for repair of the damage caused by the legacy of American slavery.
Justene Hill Edwards illuminates the inner workings of the slaves’ economy and the strategies that enslaved people used to participate in the market.
Courtesy John F. Stover. handling passengers and freight, and the principle of charging what the tra≈c would bear—all these things appeared, took their places as components, and quickly became ''standard'' on the rapidly evolving ...
This collection reveals a universal truth: there’s nothing more powerful than a teenage girl who believes in herself.
Central to this industrializing process was slave labor. Money over Mastery, Family over Freedom tells the story of how slaves seized opportunities in these conditions to protect their family members from the auction block.
During the nineteenth century, the United States entered the ranks of the world's most advanced and dynamic economies. At the same time, the nation sustained an expansive and brutal system of human bondage. This was no mere coincidence.
"Groundbreaking look at slaves as commodities through every phase of life, from birth to death and beyond, in early America The Price for Their Pound of Flesh is the first book to explore the economic value of enslaved people through every ...
Althea Gibson (1927–2003). Born in South Carolina, Gibson grew up. Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones ... His natural talent attracted the attention of physician and tennis coach R. Walter Johnson of Lynchburg. Johnson had also been the ...
Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner have been especially controversial. Almost four decades ago, in “The Vesey Plot: A Reconsideration,” Journal of Southern History, XXX (May 1964), 143—61, Richard C. Wade questioned whether the Vesey ...