Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook352 pages9 hours
In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
"The black experience in the antebellum South has been thoroughly documented. But histories set in the North are few. In the Shadow of Slavery, then, is a big and ambitious book, one in which insights about race and class in New York City abound. Leslie Harris has masterfully brought more than two centuries of African American history back to life in this illuminating new work."—David Roediger, author of The Wages of Whiteness
In 1991 in lower Manhattan, a team of construction workers made an astonishing discovery. Just two blocks from City Hall, under twenty feet of asphalt, concrete, and rubble, lay the remains of an eighteenth-century "Negro Burial Ground." Closed in 1790 and covered over by roads and buildings throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the site turned out to be the largest such find in North America, containing the remains of as many as 20,000 African Americans. The graves revealed to New Yorkers and the nation an aspect of American history long hidden: the vast number of enslaved blacks who labored to create our nation's largest city.
In the Shadow of Slavery lays bare this history of African Americans in New York City, starting with the arrival of the first slaves in 1626, moving through the turbulent years before emancipation in 1827, and culminating in one of the most terrifying displays of racism in U.S. history, the New York City Draft Riots of 1863. Drawing on extensive travel accounts, autobiographies, newspapers, literature, and organizational records, Leslie M. Harris extends beyond prior studies of racial discrimination by tracing the undeniable impact of African Americans on class, politics, and community formation and by offering vivid portraits of the lives and aspirations of countless black New Yorkers.
Written with clarity and grace, In the Shadow of Slavery is an ambitious new work that will prove indispensable to historians of the African American experience, as well as anyone interested in the history of New York City.
In 1991 in lower Manhattan, a team of construction workers made an astonishing discovery. Just two blocks from City Hall, under twenty feet of asphalt, concrete, and rubble, lay the remains of an eighteenth-century "Negro Burial Ground." Closed in 1790 and covered over by roads and buildings throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the site turned out to be the largest such find in North America, containing the remains of as many as 20,000 African Americans. The graves revealed to New Yorkers and the nation an aspect of American history long hidden: the vast number of enslaved blacks who labored to create our nation's largest city.
In the Shadow of Slavery lays bare this history of African Americans in New York City, starting with the arrival of the first slaves in 1626, moving through the turbulent years before emancipation in 1827, and culminating in one of the most terrifying displays of racism in U.S. history, the New York City Draft Riots of 1863. Drawing on extensive travel accounts, autobiographies, newspapers, literature, and organizational records, Leslie M. Harris extends beyond prior studies of racial discrimination by tracing the undeniable impact of African Americans on class, politics, and community formation and by offering vivid portraits of the lives and aspirations of countless black New Yorkers.
Written with clarity and grace, In the Shadow of Slavery is an ambitious new work that will prove indispensable to historians of the African American experience, as well as anyone interested in the history of New York City.
Unavailable
Author
Leslie M. Harris
LESLIE M. HARRIS is a professor of history at Northwestern University. She is the coeditor, with Ira Berlin, of Slavery in New York and the coeditor, with Daina Ramey Berry, of Slavery and Freedom in Savannah (Georgia).
Read more from Leslie M. Harris
Historians on Hamilton: How a Blockbuster Musical Is Restaging America's Past In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to In the Shadow of Slavery
Related ebooks
Root and Branch: African Americans in New York and East Jersey, 1613-1863 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gender and Jim Crow, Second Edition: Women and the Politics of White Supremacy in North Carolina, 1896-1920 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5African American Urban History since World War II Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Blake; or, The Huts of America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, Written by Himself Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Free Negro in North Carolina, 1790-1860 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roots of Secession: Slavery and Politics in Antebellum Virginia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Help Me to Find My People: The African American Search for Family Lost in Slavery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Brother's Keeper: African Canadians and the American Civil War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lynching and Spectacle: Witnessing Racial Violence in America, 1890-1940 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The New Negro in the Old South Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Long Past Slavery: Representing Race in the Federal Writers' Project Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRemembering Jim Crow: African Americans Tell About Life in the Segregated South Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I've Been Here All the While: Black Freedom on Native Land Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Massacre in Memphis: The Race Riot That Shook the Nation One Year After the Civil War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slave Labor in the Capital: Building Washington's Iconic Federal Landmarks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSlave Insurrections in the United States, 1800-1865 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves, and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Colored Conventions Movement: Black Organizing in the Nineteenth Century Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhite Philanthropy: Carnegie Corporation's An American Dilemma and the Making of a White World Order Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEighty-Eight Years: The Long Death of Slavery in the United States, 1777–1865 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slavery and Public History: The Tough Stuff of American Memory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Movement Without Marches: African American Women and the Politics of Poverty in Postwar Philadelphia Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black Newspapers and America's War for Democracy, 1914-1920 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWithin the Plantation Household: Black and White Women of the Old South Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Negro Education in Alabama: A Study in Cotton and Steel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Final Passages: The Intercolonial Slave Trade of British America, 1619-1807 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Remembering Lucile: A Virginia Family's Rise from Slavery and a Legacy Forged a Mile High Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
History For You
The ZERO Percent: Secrets of the United States, the Power of Trust, Nationality, Banking and ZERO TAXES! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Richest Man in Babylon: The most inspiring book on wealth ever written Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Becoming Cliterate: Why Orgasm Equality Matters--And How to Get It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5100 Things You're Not Supposed to Know: Secrets, Conspiracies, Cover Ups, and Absurdities Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England: 400 – 1066 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5100 Amazing Facts About the Negro with Complete Proof Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of The War of Art: by Steven Pressfield | Includes Analysis Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Reset: And the War for the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Awakening: Defeating the Globalists and Launching the Next Great Renaissance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Whore Stories: A Revealing History of the World's Oldest Profession Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Power of Geography: Ten Maps That Reveal the Future of Our World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lessons of History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret History of the World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related podcast episodes
Dr. Allyson Hobbs of Stanford, on Racial Passing: Allyson Hobbs, an Assistant Professor in the Depa… 0% found this document usefulA Field Guide to White Supremacy with Kathleen Belew 0% found this document usefulBONUS: Eric Foner and Henry Louis Gates Jr. on Du Bois’ Black Reconstruction 0% found this document usefulThey Were Her Property: An Interview With Stephanie Jones-Rogers 50% found this document usefulFannie Lou Hamer and the meaning of freedom: How a former sharecropper disrupted American politics 0% found this document usefulEpisode 544: The Career Girl Murders (Part 1) 0% found this document usefulKirsten Buick on Edmonia Lewis: I am so excited to say that my guest on the GWA P… 0% found this document useful244-The Women's Protest: In 1943, hundreds of German women protested the roundup of their Jewish husbands. 0% found this document usefulEpisode 425: The Clutter Family Murders 0% found this document usefulFriday, Mar. 16, 2018 0% found this document usefulRebecca Rego Barry, "The Vanishing of Carolyn Wells" (Post Hill Press, 2024): An interview with Rebecca Rego Barry 0% found this document usefulRebecca Rego Barry, "The Vanishing of Carolyn Wells" (Post Hill Press, 2024): An interview with Rebecca Rego Barry 0% found this document useful
Related articles
Meet The Last Surviving Witness To The Tulsa Race Riot Of 1921 NPRArticle
Meet The Last Surviving Witness To The Tulsa Race Riot Of 1921
May 31, 2018
3 min readJames Baldwin: ‘I Did Not Want to Weep for Martin, Tears Seemed Futile’ Literary HubArticle
James Baldwin: ‘I Did Not Want to Weep for Martin, Tears Seemed Futile’
Apr 4, 2018
10 min readThe Magazine That Helped 1920s Kids Navigate Racism The AtlanticArticle
The Magazine That Helped 1920s Kids Navigate Racism
Feb 12, 2021
18 min readThe Black Prairie Archives: An Anthology Edited by Karina Vernon C MagazineArticle
The Black Prairie Archives: An Anthology Edited by Karina Vernon
Sep 15, 2020
The Prairies are my home. The Prairies are not my home. I am from the Prairies. I am not from the Prairies. It has always been like this. Although I, a Black woman of varied origins, have spent a significant portion of my life living in Alberta, my r
3 min readIda B Wells: The Unsung Heroine Of The Civil Rights Movement The GuardianArticle
Ida B Wells: The Unsung Heroine Of The Civil Rights Movement
Apr 27, 2018
6 min readAfter Reconstruction, Black Women Found Opportunity for Revolt in Church Literary HubArticle
After Reconstruction, Black Women Found Opportunity for Revolt in Church
Sep 10, 2020
9 min readCrow Before Crow American HistoryArticle
Crow Before Crow
Jun 29, 2021
1 min readIn 'Stony The Road,' Henry Louis Gates Jr. Looks At The Period After Reconstruction NPRArticle
In 'Stony The Road,' Henry Louis Gates Jr. Looks At The Period After Reconstruction
Apr 3, 2019
3 min readDNA From 200-year-old Pipe Sheds Light On Life Of Enslaved African Woman The GuardianArticle
DNA From 200-year-old Pipe Sheds Light On Life Of Enslaved African Woman
Mar 17, 2019
2 min readThe Story Of Jim Crow In California High Country NewsArticle
The Story Of Jim Crow In California
Nov 1, 2020
5 min readThe Caribbean's Case For Reparations: Part II Global VoicesArticle
The Caribbean's Case For Reparations: Part II
Oct 15, 2020
4 min readThe Ku Klux Klan Cobblestone American History and Current Events for Kids and ChildrenArticle
The Ku Klux Klan
Nov 1, 2020
1 min read'Barracoon' Brings A Lost Slave Story To Light NPRArticle
'Barracoon' Brings A Lost Slave Story To Light
May 8, 2018
3 min readMaps Of Asthma Emergencies Show Legacy Of Redlining FuturityArticle
Maps Of Asthma Emergencies Show Legacy Of Redlining
Jun 3, 2019
2 min readMama Was a Number Runner: On The World According to Fannie Davis The MillionsArticle
Mama Was a Number Runner: On The World According to Fannie Davis
Mar 26, 2019
A female entrepreneur from the Jim Crow South arrives in the 1950s industrial cauldron of Detroit, determined to figure out “how to make a way out of no way.” The post Mama Was a Number Runner: On The World According to Fannie Davis appeared first on
4 min readCongregation Fights to Save Church Where Harriet Tubman Worshipped The GuardianArticle
Congregation Fights to Save Church Where Harriet Tubman Worshipped
Dec 12, 2017
2 min readIn 'A More Beautiful And Terrible History,' Fuel For The Fight Ahead NPRArticle
In 'A More Beautiful And Terrible History,' Fuel For The Fight Ahead
Feb 4, 2018
Jeanne Theoharis' new book re-examines civil rights history and the way it's been manipulated. "It is used to make us feel good about ourselves, to make us feel good about our progress," she says.
2 min readInterview With A Bookstore: One Of The Nation’s Oldest Black-Owned Bookstores Literary HubArticle
Interview With A Bookstore: One Of The Nation’s Oldest Black-Owned Bookstores
Apr 3, 2019
2 min readRecy Taylor's Truth The AtlanticArticle
Recy Taylor's Truth
Jan 10, 2018
8 min readCelebrating Juneteenth In A Moment Of Peril The AtlanticArticle
Celebrating Juneteenth In A Moment Of Peril
Jun 19, 2018
5 min readHow White Backlash Controls American Progress The AtlanticArticle
How White Backlash Controls American Progress
May 21, 2020
11 min readThere Are No White People in Heaven: An Interview with José Olivarez The Paris ReviewArticle
There Are No White People in Heaven: An Interview with José Olivarez
Aug 24, 2018
9 min readThe Milton House and the Underground Railroad Wisconsin Magazine of HistoryArticle
The Milton House and the Underground Railroad
Sep 10, 2019
17 min readIn 'Four Hundred Souls,' 90 Writers Tell Their Stories Of 4 Centuries Of African America NPRArticle
In 'Four Hundred Souls,' 90 Writers Tell Their Stories Of 4 Centuries Of African America
Feb 18, 2021
8 min readIn Atlanta, A Civil War Painting Stops Stretching The Truth The Christian Science MonitorArticle
In Atlanta, A Civil War Painting Stops Stretching The Truth
Apr 11, 2019
The Cyclorama’s costly restoration has become a teaching moment for Atlanta, whose 1864 defeat by Union troops it portrays.
4 min readJames H. Cone, Founder Of Black Liberation Theology, Dies At 79 NPRArticle
James H. Cone, Founder Of Black Liberation Theology, Dies At 79
Apr 28, 2018
The Arkansas native is remembered for his fierce challenges to traditional Christian norms of his era.
2 min readHow Slavery Lives On in the American Prison-Industrial Complex Literary HubArticle
How Slavery Lives On in the American Prison-Industrial Complex
Oct 16, 2018
7 min readUncovering The Truth About A Raid On The Black Panthers Literary HubArticle
Uncovering The Truth About A Raid On The Black Panthers
Feb 25, 2019
8 min read‘Stony The Road’ Lays Bare The Failure Of Reconstruction The Christian Science MonitorArticle
‘Stony The Road’ Lays Bare The Failure Of Reconstruction
May 24, 2019
Historian and television host Henry Louis Gates Jr. explores the brief flowering of African American leadership after the Civil War.
3 min readAmerica Is Still Hooked on the Drug of White Supremacy | Carol Anderson The GuardianArticle
America Is Still Hooked on the Drug of White Supremacy | Carol Anderson
Aug 13, 2017
4 min read
Reviews for In the Shadow of Slavery
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
1 rating0 reviews