Heather Andrea Williams. American Slavery: A Very Short Introduction. Very Short Introductions Series. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. 160 pp. $11.95 (paper), ISBN 978-0-19-992268-0.
Reviewed by Signe P. Fourmy (University of Texas Austin)
Published on H-War (May, 2018)
Commissioned by Margaret Sankey (Air University)
American Slavery: A Very Short Introduction, by Heather Andrea Williams, is an impressively concise, yet thorough, history of slavery in America. Williams deftly argues that slavery was the principle force in constructing both American wealth and freedom. This connection between capitalism and racial ideology is a consistent theme in American Slavery. Indeed, as Williams makes clear, it predated slavery’s arrival in the New World. From its very beginning, the Atlantic slave trade derived from the racial ideology that identified Africans as non-Christian and non-white. This identity marked Africans as “other” and made them vulnerable targets for enslavers who exploited these differences for profit. Europeans carried this racialized worldview with them as they immigrated to America seeking economic opportunity and freedom. In pursuing wealth, colonists “chose to enslave only those who were different from them—Indians and Africans” (p. 17). For reasons Williams makes clear, over the course of the seventeenth century, colonists shifted away from attempts to enslave Native Americans and moved toward the codification of Africans and Afro-Virginians as chattel. This process inextricably connected race and status. In Virginia, this development paralleled the increased production of tobacco, tying the enslavement of Africans to Euro-Americans’ profits. By the end of the seventeenth century, slavery was thoroughly racialized and enslaved black men and women labored in every American colony. Thus, enslaved labor not only was integral to the production of vast wealth in the agricultural fields of the South but also fueled industrial and economic growth throughout America and was central to the development of the American economy and social order.
Williams consistently situates the narrative of slavery within the larger historical framework. Readers develop an understanding of events, like the American Revolution and the drafting of the Constitution, and their impact on the entrenchment of the slave system. Williams’s strength is her ability to explain exceedingly complicated topics with ease. For example, Williams discusses the ideological paradox apparent in the revolutionary era rhetoric emphasizing freedom and equality espoused by slaveholding Patriots who likened themselves to slaves, unjustly prostrated to the king of England. This conflict was exacerbated as enslaved men and women sought their own freedom and “the notion of property in people and notions of liberty” collided (p. 88). In the wake of the revolutionary era, slavery diminished and eventually disappeared in northern states. However, as Williams explains, the move toward freedom in the North was offset by further entrenchment of slavery in the South, supported by the Constitution and maintained by southern political and economic influence.
Especially interesting is the chapter on resistance. Too often the examination of resistance is reduced to notable attempts to gain freedom through armed revolt or simple acts of disobedience, such as breaking tools or feigning illness. However, that is not the case here. Even in this condensed text, Williams reminds us that resistance was not always physical or violent. She argues, quite convincingly, that literacy was a primary point of contention between slaveholders and the enslaved because “the ability to read was deemed dangerous in a society in which slavery relied on domination by whites and subordination of blacks” (p. 55). Drawing on slaveholders’ correspondence and ex-slave narratives, Williams illustrates the competing attitudes concerning literacy and the threat a literate enslaved population posed to white hegemony. Thus, she shows how literacy created multiple possibilities for resistance.
Williams is at her best in shading the multiple layers that complicate the rise and fall of chattel slavery in the American colonies and United States. In chapter 5, she depicts enslaved men and women as complicated people who laughed, loved, mourned, fought, sang, rebelled, formed families, and survived. Using archaeological evidence—analyzing the foundations of slave cabins, diet, personal possessions, and everyday tools—Williams shows their lived environment. She also explores the internal dynamics of the slave community, arguing that many enslaved people formed lasting unions, families (biological and fictive), and meaningful relationships despite the constant threat of separation and sale. Citing examples from ex-slave narratives, folktales, and spiritual songs, Williams adds dimension to our understanding of enslaved people’s lives.
Although the format of the Very Short Introductions series prevents Williams from exploring any one aspect in depth, she does a remarkable job of making a complicated subject approachable without sacrificing historical content or academic integrity. Written for a broad audience, the many primary sources that populate this condensed account with lived experiences offer pertinent examples and historical perspectives that make American Slavery immensely readable. However, Williams, regrettably, neglects issues related to enslaved women’s reproduction and breeding. In this otherwise well-written and at times evocative introductory text, reproduction could have easily been included in the chapter on life within the slave community, or perhaps in the chapter on enslaved people’s labor. Despite this, American Slavery provides an excellent synthesis of current scholarship and new ideas, making it very helpful to those looking to understand the basic components of how slavery arrived in North America, why it flourished, and why its legacy remains relevant. This book also offers multiple starting points for further study. In addition to the bibliography, Williams includes a short list of suggested texts that represent some of the most influential works on slavery published in the past forty years. Also included, and especially valuable to educators, is an appendix of reliable websites that provide primary source documents. Whether seeking a general “refresher” or a solid foundation on which to build further study, readers interested in slavery should start here.
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Citation:
Signe P. Fourmy. Review of Williams, Heather Andrea, American Slavery: A Very Short Introduction.
H-War, H-Net Reviews.
May, 2018.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=44309
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