Description
Book SynopsisOver recent decades few topics of American history have been subject to greater attention and more thorough revision than African Americans in colonial times. Acclaimed works by leading scholars, relying on new bodies of evidence and writing from a fresh, Atlantic perspective, have provided a broadened, more nuanced view of the topic.
Trade ReviewPraise for the first edition: "This fine, brief survey...ought to be widely used. It offeres a balanced, up-to-date treatement of West African cultures, the Atlantic slave trade, the slow development of slavery in the English colonies, the rise of racism, and the changing cultures of Americans in African ancestry. ... Wright has performed a real service. ...this book is far and away the best short survey of early African-American history." ( EthnoHistory, 1992) "Wright provides the reader with a better understanding and considerable insight into the causes, consequences and conditions of African Americans in colonial North America." ( International Migration Review, 1992)
Table of ContentsPreface to the Third Edition and Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 CHAPTER ONE: Atlantic Origins 9 Atlantic Africa 13 The Atlantic Trade 25 The Slaving Voyage 46 CHAPTER TWO: Development of Slavery in Mainland North America 62 The Chesapeake 66 The Low Country 80 The Lower Mississippi 92 New England and the Middle Colonies 97 Slavery and Racial Prejudice 106 CHAPTER THREE: African-American Culture 111 African in America 113 Demography, Community, and Culture 118 The Daily Toil 126 Family 138 Religion 143 Folk Culture 148 Whites and Blacks, Men and Women, Humanity and Inhumanity 158 Resistance, Escape, and Rebellion 162 CHAPTER FOUR: The Revolutionary Era 173 Slavery and Ideology 175 Freedom for Some 181 Changing African-American Society 192 The Foundations of Caste 211 Securing the Blessings of Liberty 215 Epilogue 219 Bibliographical Essay 223 Index 269 Maps: Africa in the Era of the Atlantic Trade, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 17 Colonies of the North American Mainland in the Eighteenth Century 65
