Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America

Rating:
Summary: The first 2 centuries of slavery
Review: Ira Berlin's MANY THOUSANDS GONE records the first two centuries of slavery in the present day United States AFTER European settlement. More thought-provoking and less dogmatic than Eugene Genovese's ROLL, JORDAN, ROLL, Berlin more fully makes the distinction between the various forms the system of slavery took in different regions and at different times in the period before Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin put new vigor into the old institution.

The book is broken down into three main parts: Societies with Slaves (or the Charter Generation), Slave Societies (or the Plantation Generation) and the Revolutionary Generation (ending in approximately 1810 to 1820). Within each of these time frames, the book looks at the peculiar ways in which the institution of slavery developed in Virginia and the Upper South, South Carolina and the Lower South, the North and the Lower Mississippi Valley (Louisiana and Florida). Further, each such chapter focuses on the evolution of slavery in each region within each generation.

The book compares indenturement (and apprenticeships) with slavery and also describes how the influx of Africans from interior Africa swamped the Atlantic Creole populace, contributing to the idea of racial superiority (of whites) and the development of ideas about miscegnation as a polluter of racial purity. The charter generation and later "creolized" generations were more likely to be able to win or purchase freedom whereas each influx of non-creolized Africans contributed to the "Africanization" of the black populace and to harsher restrictions on slaves and other black & biracial persons.

The book looks at de facto property-ownership among slaves and the development of the slave economy and its importance in the greater economy. Berlin also looks at the early interactions between the races (going so far as to point out that most persons of mixed race early on came not from relations between white masters and black slaves (whether or not consensual) but between indentured or lower class whites and slaves or free blacks. He also touches on the increasing competition between the white working class and blacks (enslaved and free) and the growth of vehement anti-black sentiments among working class whites.

Informative and stimulating, the book infrequently still tends to generalize such as with the implicit assumption of the general validity of the Woodson Thesis that free blacks generally tended to be more likely to own relatives - which was true (by law - see FREE BLACKS IN NORFOLK, VIRGINIA by Tommy L. Bogger) in places such as Virginia (where Carter Woodson's father James Henry Woodson hailed - see BLACK CONFEDERATES AND AFRO-YANKEES IN CIVIL WAR VIRGINIA by Ervin L. Jordan, Jr.) but was clearly not the case in places such as Louisiana and South Carolina (see THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE by Gary B. Mills, BLACK SLAVEOWNERS by Larry Kroger and BLACK MASTERS by Michael P. Johnson & James L. Roark). Despite such expected errors in so comprehensive a work, MANY THOUSANDS GONE makes for a great read!

Rating:
Summary: The first 2 centuries of slavery
Review: Ira Berlin's MANY THOUSANDS GONE records the first two centuries of slavery in the present day United States AFTER European settlement. More thought-provoking and less dogmatic than Eugene Genovese's ROLL, JORDAN, ROLL, Berlin more fully makes the distinction between the various forms the system of slavery took in different regions and at different times in the period before Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin put new vigor into the old institution.

The book is broken down into three main parts: Societies with Slaves (or the Charter Generation), Slave Societies (or the Plantation Generation) and the Revolutionary Generation (ending in approximately 1810 to 1820). Within each of these time frames, the book looks at the peculiar ways in which the institution of slavery developed in Virginia and the Upper South, South Carolina and the Lower South, the North and the Lower Mississippi Valley (Louisiana and Florida). Further, each such chapter focuses on the evolution of slavery in each region within each generation.

The book compares indenturement (and apprenticeships) with slavery and also describes how the influx of Africans from interior Africa swamped the Atlantic Creole populace, contributing to the idea of racial superiority (of whites) and the development of ideas about miscegnation as a polluter of racial purity. The charter generation and later "creolized" generations were more likely to be able to win or purchase freedom whereas each influx of non-creolized Africans contributed to the "Africanization" of the black populace and to harsher restrictions on slaves and other black & biracial persons.

The book looks at de facto property-ownership among slaves and the development of the slave economy and its importance in the greater economy. Berlin also looks at the early interactions between the races (going so far as to point out that most persons of mixed race early on came not from relations between white masters and black slaves (whether or not consensual) but between indentured or lower class whites and slaves or free blacks. He also touches on the increasing competition between the white working class and blacks (enslaved and free) and the growth of vehement anti-black sentiments among working class whites.

Informative and stimulating, the book infrequently still tends to generalize such as with the implicit assumption of the general validity of the Woodson Thesis that free blacks generally tended to be more likely to own relatives - which was true (by law - see FREE BLACKS IN NORFOLK, VIRGINIA by Tommy L. Bogger) in places such as Virginia (where Carter Woodson's father James Henry Woodson hailed - see BLACK CONFEDERATES AND AFRO-YANKEES IN CIVIL WAR VIRGINIA by Ervin L. Jordan, Jr.) but was clearly not the case in places such as Louisiana and South Carolina (see THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE by Gary B. Mills, BLACK SLAVEOWNERS by Larry Kroger and BLACK MASTERS by Michael P. Johnson & James L. Roark). Despite such expected errors in so comprehensive a work, MANY THOUSANDS GONE makes for a great read!

Rating:
Summary: Ira does it again.
Review: This book added a great deal to my knowledge of the first two centuries of slavery in North America. Berlin's primary document research is marvelous and the details that he was able to find out about slave life during this period are astounding. Berlin found out that the process of dehumanizing slaves was one that took time and varied from region to region, and he goes into specific economic and cultural factors that played the role in establishing and keeping slavery in the states.
Often the creation of the peculiar institution and the diversity of slave life is glossed over in textbooks. They ignore the important role that economic factors play from region to region. Berlin argues that the north did not have fewer slaves because northerners were more conscientious or less racist than southerners(as many would like to think), but because the majority of them simply could not profit as well from slave labor.

An excellent scholarly work that shows wide diversity in the lives of slaves durring the first two centuries of its existance.

Rating:
Summary: Oustanding (with one caveat).
Review: This book is, along with Morgan's work on the Lowcountry and Eugene Genovese's entire corpus, the outstanding work in the field. Berlin organizes his material both spatially and temporally, which allows him to give a feeling for the distinctions across the decades and from place to place. Even experts in American history will learn from every page.

My only caveat is that, despite the enormous effort that obviously went into this book, it came out with a plethora of grammatical errors. False parallelisms, single possessives in place of plurals, and numerous other basic grammatical mistakes mar the text, so that the careful reader cannot help but be distracted from the actual topic. Alas, this certainly colors my impression of what otherwise is an outstanding piece of work; too bad. Prof. Berlin's editors at Harvard definitely dropped the ball.

Rating:
Summary: Oustanding (with one caveat).
Review: To most Americans, including most scholars, slavery in the USA is usually thought of as chattel slavery associated with the plantation economies of the Antebellum South. This is a book on slavery in North America in the two centuries prior to the antebellum period. Berlin takes pains to present slavery over this extended period of time as historically dynamic and regionally diverse. Berlin is excellent at showing how changes in the Atlantic economy, political events such as the American Revolution, and international diplomacy all contributed to changes in the world experienced by slaves and slaveholders. This is true history from below emphasizing the experience of slaves. Berlin is particularly good at exploring the rich regional diversity of the slave experience in North America. This will simply be the standard book on this topic for decades to come. Written with grace, some passion, and an excellent bibliography.