Summary

Often called America's "original sin," slavery is arguably the greatest stain on the nation's history. From their introduction in 17th-century Virginia to their emancipation in 1865, unfree African and African-American laborers contributed to the growth and development of the country. Despite its pervasiveness, slavery differed from region to region and era to era, and, in spite of the horrors of the institution, enslaved people carved out lives and created unique cultures and distinct traditions that enabled their survival. The cultural residue of slavery remains with us today in the modern United States, as Americans continue to struggle with issues of race and race relations born out of the era of bondage.  

Slavery in the United States examines numerous controversies related to the history of slavery, including slavery and the American Revolution, the Constitution and Bible as pro- or antislavery documents, the transatlantic slave trade, colonization of free blacks, abolition, slave resistance and uprisings, slavery and western expansion, and whether escaping slaves should be accepted by Union forces during the Civil War. This brand-new volume answers any question high school and college students may have on the conflicts surrounding slavery in this country and how they were resolved.

Specifications

Black-and-white illustrations. Maps. Index. Bibliographies. Chronologies. Web sites. Primary sources. Tables.

About the Author(s)

Jeff Forret, Ph.D., is associate professor of history at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. An expert on slavery and pre-Civil War American history, he is the author of Race Relations at the Margins: Slaves and Poor Whites in the Antebellum Southern Countryside and is completing his second monograph, Conflict in the Community: "Black-on-Black Violence" in the Slave South. He has written articles on slavery in several journals and anthologies, including the Journal of Southern History; Slavery & Abolition and Fathers, Preachers, Rebels, Men: Black Masculinity in U.S. History and Literature, 1820-1845. In addition, he is the author of numerous encyclopedia entries on topics relating to slavery for such references as the New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Oxford Handbook of Slavery in the Americas, and Gale Library of Daily Life: Slavery in America.