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Introduction
A book review on “American slavery, 1619-1817” written by Peter Kolchin. Consulting Editor: Eric Foner. Publisher: New York: Hill and Wang, c. The year of Publication: 1993. Total pages 304.
Peter Kolchin has written a variety of articles and two books on slavery and emancipation in U.S.A. His book titled “Unfree Labor” has won the Bancroft Prize.
American slavery, 1619-1817 written by Peter Kolchin pictures about the slavery in U.S.A from its inception from 1619 to its demise in 1817. The book is being appreciated by erudite for its clarity, succinctness, originality and wisdom. Kolchin succeeded in giving a bird’s view on slavery in America without racial blinders.
The book first two chapters deal with the colonial era and then explain about rapid changes that triggered the American Revolution. The third chapter details about the antebellum period throwing light on the southern whites. The concluding chapter details of the demise of slavery on the onset of the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Review
Kolchin describes that a “rough commonality” which is founded on resident masters, small holdings and a slaveless white majority triggered the regional diversities of colonial slavery (Peter Kolchin, p. 29).
He also explains that colonial slave-owner’s “resident mentality “formed on the significant growth of colonial society (Peter Kolchin, p. 35).
This “resident mentality “offered masters both motivation and opportunity to meddle frequently in slaves day to day life and it has offered an ‘a strong feeling of oneness” among slaves which destabilized social stratification either by profession or other types of rights (Peter Kolchin, p. 53).
The period of American Revolution was a “watershed “in transforming the vision that portrayed slavery was justifiable and tolerable (Peter Kolchin, p. 65). Further, the book also details that it was the United States which initiated vital action against slavery though it was limited in nature (Peter Kolchin, p. 76).
Kolchin portraits the slave’s demand for autonomy through recognition of their family life, practice of their own religion and other kinds of cultural expressions. Slaves expressed their desire for independence through resistance.
While detailing about Reconstruction, Kolchin remarks that “in granting independence above all else, the liberated people exposed the extent to which their perspective on world was influenced by the earlier bondage” (Peter Kolchin, p. 228).
Earlier, Kolchin also offers some glimpse on the experiences of slaves prior to their settlement in America.Kolchin also give us some notion on the emergence of abolitionist movement as early as of the 1830’s , visualizing the duality of slavery and freedom in their struggle for independence.
In this book, Kolchin explains in depth about the life of slaves, relationships between master and slave, society and customs. Kolchin international perspective on slavery is apparent in this book as he compares and contrasts the slave society in the South America with that of in Brazil, Jamaica, Haiti and Russian serf societies.
Kolchin holds a correct view that slave cultures cannot be studied independently from that of white cultures. He also repudiates the finding that cultural influence mostly passed by erudite whites to nescient blacks. Perhaps, the majority of crops nurtured in the U.S.A were introduced or domesticated in to and largely cultivated in Africa long time before America was colonized. Skills of cultivating rice, corn, tobacco, animal husbandry, navigation skills, fishing, hunting, metalworking and warfare were actually conveyed to whites by blacks.
Kolchin book is written on four fundamentals. The first one is reflecting the transforming historical elucidation of slavery. It tries to define what slavery is. Next, Kolchin defines both about the owners and their slaves in the background of their respective culture. Thirdly, Kolchin tries to explain the origin of the process of slavery from the indentured servitude that culminated from 1619 up to chattel slavery at the start of nineteenth century. Kolchin concludes that by emphasizing the American slavery as a part and parcel of international occurrence rather than as a specific institution.
Conclusion
Our current compassion for autonomy may honor racial identity and start of above cultural manipulation of bondage from which a reader may learn useful lessons other than autonomy or independence. Thus, Kolchin book on American slavery is thus both an exemplary survey of slavery of our times and springboard of future research and manifestation.
No doubt, America is able to remain as a super power in the world only because of hard work and sacrifices made by black before and after their emancipation. Black people role in bringing a prosperous America cannot be denied. But for black people, America would have been a still developing economy. Through abolition of slavery and upholding the black’s rights, America earlier proved that it has respect for human rights irrespective of color and creed. This has been again demonstrated by electing a black president in 2008 thereby setting a unprecedented record in the world history that America is a nation where slavery is a thing of past.
Works Cited
Guenther, Karen. “American Slavery: 1619-1877.” The Historian 57.n1 (1994): 139(2).
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