Title American slavery : a very short introduction / Heather Andrea Williams

Published New York, NY : Oxford University Press, USA, 2014

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Oxford: Very Short Introductions

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Description 1 online resource (140 pages) : illustrations Series Very short introductions ; 396 Very short introductions ; 396. Contents The Atlantic slave trade -- Putting slavery into place -- The work of slavery -- Struggles for control -- Surviving slavery -- Taking slavery apart -- Epilogue Summary "This short introduction to American slavery begins with the Portuguese capture of Africans in the 1400s and, drawing upon the scholarship of numerous historians as well as the analysis of primary documents, explores the development of slavery in the American colonies and later, the United States of America. It analyzes early legislation in Virginia that differentiated Indians and Africans from Europeans and began the process of stratifying society based on racial categories. Unlike some recent scholarship, it is attentive to the actual labor that enslaved people performed, reminding us that more than anything else, slavery was a system of forced labor that produced wealth for a new nation. And, it considers the tensions that arose between enslaved and enslavers as they interacted with one another, exerting control and undermining efforts at domination. Throughout, it explores slavery within the context of moral contradiction that included the development of an ideology that valorized freedom alongside a practice and justification of slavery that deemed inferior and denied freedom to a large swath of the population. The book explores conflicts between abolitionists who worked to eliminate slavery and pro-slavery advocates who worked doggedly to sustain the power and wealth they derived from the institution. It ends with the abolition of slavery in America following the Civil War"-- Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 119-126) and index Notes Print version record Subject Slavery -- United States -- History. HISTORY -- United States -- Colonial Period (1600-1775) HISTORY -- United States -- Revolutionary Period (1775-1800) Slavery Sklaverei Sklavenhandel Esclavage -- États-Unis -- Histoire. United States USA Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9780199922710 0199922713 9780199922727 0199922721 9780199380787 0199380783

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