In the Shadow of Slavery - African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863

Klappentext 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.

Product details

• Authors: Leslie M. Harris, HARRIS LESLIE M, Harris Leslie M.
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.10.2004
• EAN: 9780226317731
• ISBN: 978-0-226-31773-1
• No. of pages: 387
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 25 mm
• Series: Historical Studies of Urban Am; Historical Studies of Urban America; Historical Studies of Urban America (CHUP)
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; New York, Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Slavery, HISTORY / United States / Colonial Period (1600-1775), HISTORY / United States / 19th Century, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, 18th century, c 1700 to c 1799, 17th century, c 1600 to c 1699, Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700, History of the Americas, Slavery & abolition of slavery, 16th century, c 1500 to c 1599, C 1600 To C 1700, C 1700 To C 1800, Slavery and abolition of slavery, New York (state)