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Title: An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America by Henry Wiencek ISBN: 0-374-17526-8 Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux Pub. Date: 15 November, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.08 (13 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Engaging, Informative, Imperfect
Comment: I enjoyed An Imperfect God because the writing itself was excellent. Although the author veered back and forth between first person observations to a more biographical stance, he managed to engage my attention with his well woven historical references and his ancedotal stories which had a very personal feel.
There were places where the author seemed to rehash stories told by others without adding anything new, and other places where his scholarship was fresh and his conclusions provoke conversation. Wiencek shows us repeatedly the paradox of a man who benefited by owning slaves and their labor, who came to a point of understand the the corrupting influence of absolute power slavery geve owners over the lives of others. Washington allowed arrangements between slaves and their owner/relatives within his own household which we would find untenable at best, and the subject of offensive jokes at worst. The story of Martha Washington's slave sister and Martha's son from her first marriage, which produced a child, is one which would be considered unpalatable in these days but was commonplace in the 17th century until the end of legal slavery. Yet, at the end of his life, he provided for the manumission of his slaves.
Clearly, Wiencek is not a revisionist historian, in the way that most traditional historians use the term. He is a revisionist in the best sense of the word, adding to our knowledge as well as encouraging us to look at viewpoints we might not have considered.
In the end, however, Wiencek's book provides a fresh look at a difficult time and convoluted relationships which have had scant acknowledgement outside the African American community. As our nation finally comes to grips with recent revelations that 20th century segregationist Strom Thurmon fathered a daughter with a black house maid in the early 20th century, we see that Thurmon's behavior is merely an extention of the behavior exhibited in the 1700s by other leaders. Timely, indeed.
Rating: 5
Summary: An Imperfect God
Comment: In An Imperfect God, Author Henry Wiencek succeeds in his portrayal of George Washington as soldier, satatesman, planter, and slaveholder. Along with being a biography of Washington, Wiencek also sheds light on the African presence in America from the 17th century to the present. As one reads, one notices the paradox that is the American Revolution, as well as its leader, Washington. We see Washington's views on slavery, from childhood up until his death.
The topic of relationships between slave and master is also brought up. These include one between Martha Washington's father-in-law and a slave, one between a mulatto woman and Martha's own father (her half sister), the Sally Hemings and Jefferson case, and even one between Washington himself, and a slave named Venus.
Rating: 5
Summary: An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Cre
Comment: Having won the National Book Critics Circle Award for The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White, Wiencek here tracks Washington's change in attitude regarding slavery.
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Title: "Negro President" : Jefferson and the Slave Power by Garry Wills ISBN: 0618343989 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 01 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Inventing A Nation: Washington, Adams, Jefferson by Gore Vidal ISBN: 0300101716 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: 01 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: Washington's Crossing (Pivotal Moments in American History) by David Hackett Fischer ISBN: 0195170342 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: February, 2004 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: General Washington's Christmas Farewell : A Mount Vernon Homecoming, 1783 by Stanley Weintraub ISBN: 0743246543 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 10 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: We Are Lincoln Men : Abraham Lincoln and His Friends by David Herbert Donald ISBN: 0743254686 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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