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Title: American Slavery : 1619-1877 by Peter Kolchin ISBN: 0-8090-1630-3 Publisher: Hill & Wang Pub Pub. Date: 01 September, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (6 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Outstanding Survey of American Slavery
Comment: Kolchin offers his book as a concise, readable synthesis of the movements in the historiography of slavery in the United States. Influenced by the movement toward social and cultural history, he devotes considerable attention to slave life in the antebellum south and the effects of the particular situation of slavery in the United States in shaping slave culture. Kolchin also situates slavery in the U.S. in the context of the world wide institution with comparisons to the Caribbean, Brazil, and to the Russian serfs which both highlights the unique situation of American Slaves and emphasizes that the institution of slavery did not exist in a vacuum.
The book progresses chronologically from the 1619 arrival of slaves in Jamestown to a brief discussion of the end of slavery and the problems of reconstruction, with thematic treatments of slave life, white control and paternalism in antebellum slavery as well as white society, economy, and ideology in the American south.
In producing such a smooth synthesis, Kolchin admittedly sacrifices a certain amount of detail and nuance for the sake of flow and clarity. Disconcerting, at times is his lack of documentation, another victim of simplicity in Kolchin's approach. While accomplishing his goal of remaining clear and readable, the reader sometimes wishes for some assistance in discerning the origin or fuller development of a particular position or point. To his credit, Kolchin works references to the historiography into his text well, and he provides an exceedingly thorough bibliographical essay at the end, which is probably the strongest segment of the work. Still, the lack of documentation sometimes proves frustrating and thus counters the goal of smooth flow in the text.
In the final analysis, however, Kolchin produces an excellent, readable volume that accomplishes his goal of a balanced narrative that shows how slavery evolved over time in the United States. So too has it accomplished its purpose in enlightening beginners and enkindling much scholarly discussion.
Rating: 4
Summary: Excellent History of Slavery in the USA
Comment: Over the past 50 years, the study of slavery has been one of the most dynamic and contentious areas in American History. A large volume of first-rate scholarship now exists on many aspects of North American slavery. This excellent book is a successful effort to synthesize the large volume of information on North American slavery. The book is organized chronologically, beginning with the Colonial period and progressing through the Revolution and the Antebellum period. Kolchin does an excellent job of describing the historical evolution of slavery in the USA. Another meritorious aspect is that Kolchin is an expert on the comparative history of slavery and provides useful comparative perspectives by comparing North American slavery with the features of other unfree societies. Kolchin is a clear writer and the book is very well organized. There is an excellent annotated bibliography which is a fine guide for readers interested in more specialized works on this topic. This is a must read for anyone interested in American History.
Rating: 5
Summary: OUTSTANDING!
Comment: It is impossible to over-state just what a superb book this is. Peter Kolchin covers the entire scope of slavery in America from its colonial origins to its destruction following the Civil War and everything else in between in an accessible and highly readable manner. From a casual, passing interest, right up to degree-level, "American Slavery" is nothing less than essential to anyone wanting to understand the 'peculiar institution'.
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Title: Roll, Jordan, Roll : The World the Slaves Made by Eugene D. Genovese ISBN: 0394716523 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 12 January, 1976 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
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Title: Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America by Ira Berlin ISBN: 0674002113 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: 04 March, 2000 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Peculiar Institution : Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South by Kenneth M. Stampp ISBN: 0679723072 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 17 December, 1989 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Black Southerners, 1619-1869 by John B. Boles ISBN: 0813101611 Publisher: University Press of Kentucky Pub. Date: July, 1985 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: Liberty and Power : The Politics of Jacksonian America by Harry Watson ISBN: 0374521964 Publisher: Noonday Press Pub. Date: 01 February, 1990 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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