ebooks Kosovo: What Everyone Needs to Know® by Tim Judah in History

Description

The story of slavery in the colonial New World is; in part; one of rebellion. In Jamaica; Hispaniola; Dutch Surinam and elsewhere; massive uprisings threatened European rule. But not in British North America. Between the founding of Jamestown in 1607 and the start of the American Revolution in 1775; the colonies experienced only one notable revolt; on South Carolina's Stono River in 1739; and it lasted a single day. Yet; writes Peter Charles Hoffer; as brief as this event was; historians have misunderstood it--and have thus overlooked its deeper significance.In Cry Liberty; Hoffer provides a deeply researched and finely nuanced narrative of the Stono River conflict; offering uncomfortable insights into American slavery. In particular; he draws on new sources to reexamine this one dramatic day. According to conventional wisdom; recently imported African slaves-warriors in spirit and training-learned of an impending war between England and Spain. Seeking freedom from Spanish authorities; the argument runs; they launched a well-planned uprising in order to escape to Florida. But Hoffer has mined legislative and legal records; land surveys; and first-hand accounts to identify precisely where the fighting began; trace the paths taken by rebels and militia; and offer a new explanation of its causes. Far from a noble; well-crafted revolt; he reveals; the slaves were simply breaking into a store to take what they thought was their due; and chance events put them on a path no participant had originally intended. The truth is a far less heroic; but far more of a human tragedy.Richly researched; crisply told; and unflinchingly honest; this book uncovers the grim truth about the violent wages of slavery and sheds light on why North America had so few slave rebellions.