Africans in America: America's Journey through Slavery
By:
Charles Johnson Patricia Smith WGBH Research Team
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Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Description:
A riveting narrative history of America, from the 1607 landing in Jamestown to the brink of the Civil War, Africans in America tells the shared history of Africans and Europeans as seen through the lens of slavery. It is told from the point of view of the Africans who arrived in shackles and endured the terrible dichotomy of this new land founded on the ideal of liberty but dedicated to the perpetuation of slavery. Meticulously researched, this book weaves together the experiences of the colonists, slaves, free and fugitive blacks, and abolitionists to present an utterly original document, a startling and moving drama of the effects of slavery and racism on our conflicted national identity. The result transcends history as we were taught it and transforms the way we see our past.
Description:
This extraordinary book--the accompanying volume to the PBS series--looks at the history of slavery in the United States with an honesty that reveals both horror and heroism in the common humanity of all Americans. Uncovering the indigenous history of African slavery and the involvement of Arab and European nations, it then traces the journey of enslaved Africans across the "Middle Passage" of the Atlantic to the Caribbean and America. Charles Johnson's spellbinding fictional narratives beautifully evoke the feeling of times and places, such as the Haitian revolution or the plantation slave society. In "The Transmission," two captives in the bottom of a slave ship try to preserve their heritage. "Oboto quietly sang to his brother--in a language their captors could not understand--how their people long ago had navigated the New World ... on and on like a tapestry, Oboto unfurled their past, rituals, and laws in songs and riddles..." Poet/journalist Patricia Smith's historical anecdotes and references to legendary African American heroes (including Olaudah Equiano, Harriet Tubman, and Frederick Douglass), juxtaposed with rare documents, letters, slave advertisements, slave-ship cargo diagrams, and paintings, provide evidence of the African American fight for freedom, from the black soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War to the Underground Railroad to the return to combat in the Civil War. When emancipation finally came, Smith writes, "the newly liberated slaves sang for themselves, for their new country, and for the thousands upon thousands of Africans ripped from the clutches of home." --Eugene Holley Jr.
Publisher: Mariner Books
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
A must for everyone who says they are an American - I just finished reading this book and I was amazed, angered, heart-broken, and thrilled through it all. I was amazed how one group of people managed to survived all the indignities heaped upon them by their "masters" and still managed to know that this peculiar condition (slavery) was wrong. I was angered how one group of people misused the bible & God's word, proposed baseless scientific theories, and rationalized their way to exploit the millions of Africans and later black American born slaves to enrich their lives. I was heart-broken to read of all the injustices done to these slaves, the break-up of families, the rapes, the lynching, and the treatment of them as less than animals. I was thrilled that throughout this book, there arose individuals, from both sides of the racial divide that knew slavery was wrong to their very core. How they strove in their own ways, be it through violence, be it through the pulpit or be it through risking their own lives in trying to rid this fledging nation from such an amoral situation. This book opened my eyes to how the founding fathers failed to grasp how to handle this slave issue and how it is the basis for the social ills we face in this day and age. This is a must read for all Americans to see how through our fight for "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" we trampled upon those same ideas for another group of people whose only difference was the color of their skin. This book should make you pause for a moment to ponder the question, what if things were differently. If the vile treatment done to those individual so long was done humanely or never done at all, how much different would our nation be today. Or, if this peculiar condition was allowed to exist through the years even to this day, would our nation be held in the high esteem it is today? This book has reinforced me to view each person I meet on their own individual merits and not judge them by their color, as was done to my ancestors so long ago.
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
The power of denial. - Wow, this book was informative and yet extremely hard to put down, this is combination i very seldomly come across. There is so much to say about this book. Although it's not exaustive by any means, it pretty much gives you that complete sequential view that you find yourself saying "oohhhh" to. What struck me most about this book was the denial and the need for white christian men to feel less guilty about their exploitation and how, many of the "moral men" including a few of our founding fathers, found themselves often contradicting themselves on the issue of slavery. On the one side they would say and admit that slavery was wrong but then justify their actions by claiming that they (the slaves) were better off that way, being that according to the whites, slaves were incapable of taking care of themselves.
I enjoyed this book so much that i went ahead and bought the dvd as well to get a visisual of what i read.
bottom line,
if you want a straight foward book on slavery in america, look no further.
Customer Review: 4 out of 5
A good buy. - I happen to have not only learned from this book but also enjoyed reading it. There's a lot of detail and even some inconsistencies but I've yet to come across a completely perfect representation of history. As far as inconsistencies noted by a fellow reviewer, there is no one official count of slaves...there are only estimates, and those estimates are also broken down into several sub-categories. You will find a variety of statistics on the slave trade but that should be expected by now...especially given the cruelty and inhuman conditions that existed. Who's to say how many slaves were killed that were never reported?
Point blank...this book is worth the money. It's a nice mix of fact that ties in your emotions with mini-storylines based on real occurrences.
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Absolutely The Best! - Simply, the research team covers everything from much needed basic history to indepth discussion in a conversational tone.Great attention is given to documentation of facts. Written for all to enjoy, from the novice to the advanced scholar. A literary masterpiece. MUST read!!
Customer Review: 4 out of 5
Wonderful - What struck me most about this book is the story of slaves during the Revoluntary War. I'm a RW buff and hardly ever, and never in school's histroy books was this subject touched upon and to me it really had an astounding effect on the war. I didn't know that people in the 13 states feared for their lives when the British offered freedom to the slaves if they joined up with them. And then after the long war, slave owners came up from the south looking for them and dragging them out of bed. The story was to the point with a lot of interesting personal stories. I think this book should be put in all schools and this side of history should not be avoided. I suspected Jefferson was a jerk long ago and this confirms it even more. All these leaders of our country spouting words of liberty and owning hundreds of slaves. How could they have thought it was part of God's plan and design? .
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