SLAVE NO MORE PA

Recently two new important African-American slave narratives have come to light, published here along with scholarly commentary for the first time. They are considered significant by historians because they support a theory that slaves played a role in bringing about their own freedom. Traditionally slavery is thought to have ended with Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation - Lincoln freed the slaves, we are taught in school. However, is it possible that the slaves themselves played a role in their own freedom, that their own actions, conscious or not, helped bring about Emancipation? This is what today many historians contend, and these two narratives support that view. "For most slaves", Blight says, "freedom did not come on a particular day; it evolved by process." It was the process of waves of slaves escaping into Union lines as the war moved south, often forming shanty towns of "contrabands" (as the Union called escaped slaves, they were initially classified by the north as property). Eventually something had to be done about the"contraband" and Lincoln signed some limited laws that gave them freedom, which eventually morphed into the Emancipation Proclamation. But it was the slaves desire for freedom, willing to risk life by escaping, that forced the issue of Emancipation. Further, many of these freed slaves then took up arms and joined the Union army. It is estimated over 700,000 of the nearly 4 million slaves found freedom through this "process", the remaining 3.3 million achieving freedom with the 13th Amendment.Whatever the historical debates, these narratives are interesting and even thrilling. Although not as well written as Frederick Douglass, in many ways the adventures of these young men are more real and tangible - as private documents they were not written to be published, not filtered through an editor. They were meant for friends and family and thus have a rough, raw real edge to them.David Blight has done a great service to historians and the public by both publishing the original sources and summarizing and expanding on them. Each of the two narratives has a corresponding chapter that re-creates the narrative in more detail and clarity for the modern reader. In addition there are two chapters that examine what happened to the men after the war including some fascinating pictures. No two slave narratives are alike and these will surely not disappoint as important historical case examples and thrilling stories. America has two new unsung heroes representative of 100s of thousands who sought and found their own freedom.

This is an amazing story

The shifting between the slaves" narrative and the author's comments did interrupt the flow of the book. I can see where it is important to provide context to the time period, but overall it was a distraction. It did do what it set out to do - provide a view into the life of two slaves and their "adventures". It gives raise to the old phrase - There but for the grace of God, go I. How lucky one is/was to be born free and white. How unlucky one was/is to be born slave and black. Being born black today still relegates that person to a second class citizen. Jim Crow may be officially dead, but unofficially, it is still alive and well and thrives among that group that can't accept equality.

Wow. What a book. Very well written and in enough detail to keep me interested. I know very little about black slavery history, so naturally, I was glad to grab this and start reading. My emotions ran high as I read this book and I was always thinking how cruel it is to entrap people to make them work for you; although I think this is what has been happening to the lower class in America for centuries. They get paid to buy the products they make and are always in debt to the upper one percent in order to have housing,food and transportation .Not to mention appliances and entertainment. So did they really make it out of slavery? I think not.

Historically, the versions give a relatively good idea of what transpired with the slaves. However, there is much discussion of insignificant material and one wonders about how much freedom some of the slaves had; e.g. earnng their own money, being allowed to go "into town", etc.

Absolutely powerful stories of the memoirs of 2 slaves. part 1` is a reproduction of their memoirs. Part 2 is the family tree of the 2 slaves up to today. Part 3 is the actual memoirs of the 2 slaves written exactly in their own words in the 1800's.

A must read!

It's nearly impossible to imagine what it must have been like to be a slave and to feel such an overpowering desire for freedom that someone is willing to do nearly anything to become free. The author gives us great insight into the lives of two former slaves and how they obtained their freedom. This is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in American history.