Why did it take so long to end slavery in the United States; and what did it mean that the nation existed eighty-eight years as a “house divided against itself;†as Abraham Lincoln put it? The decline of slavery throughout the Atlantic world was a protracted affair; says Patrick Rael; but no other nation endured anything like the United States. Here the process took from 1777; when Vermont wrote slavery out of its state constitution; to 1865; when the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery nationwide.Rael immerses readers in the mix of social; geographic; economic; and political factors that shaped this unique American experience. He not only takes a far longer view of slavery’s demise than do those who date it to the rise of abolitionism in 1831; he also places it in a broader Atlantic context. We see how slavery ended variously by consent or force across time and place and how views on slavery evolved differently between the centers of European power and their colonial peripheries―some of which would become power centers themselves.Rael shows how African Americans played the central role in ending slavery in the United States. Fueled by new Revolutionary ideals of self-rule and universal equality―and on their own or alongside abolitionists―both slaves and free blacks slowly turned American opinion against the slave interests in the South. Secession followed; and then began the national bloodbath that would demand slavery’s complete destruction.
#2944310 in Books Dolly Lunt Burge 2006-09-01 2006-09-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.02 x .73 x 5.98l; 1.05 #File Name: 0820328596316 pagesThe Diary Of Dolly Lunt Burge
Review
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Civil War Diary; DOlly Lunt BurgeBy Estelle AshtonA very good book. Laws before and during the civil war were very different concerning women's rights. This book shows a clear indication of this. Dolly was a very learned woman; proving she could run a plantation.1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Four StarsBy J. Danny TurnageWell written book very interesting if you are interested in the War Between The States!1 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Happy with selectionBy AlexI scanned over the book when it arrived. It was in good condition and came only a few days after I ordered. I have not read the entire book as it is now number three in a list of books I have near my chair waiting to read. I did look at a few pages though and was interested. I can't wait for it to be the next book I open. It's in great shape and as good as if not better than what I expected as far as condition.
