by Ira Berlin
First published 2005
For most of its history, New York operated as a slave city. During the eighteenth century, only Charleston, South Carolina had a higher proportion of enslaved people in its urban population. European visitors regularly remarked on the sight of so many enslaved Black people on New York's streets. The recent discovery of the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan forced Americans to confront this buried history. Editor Ira Berlin, Bancroft Prize winner for Many Thousands Gone, joins with Leslie Harris to present twelve new studies by leading historians. These scholars examine how bondage shaped daily life for all New Yorkers, both Black and white residents. They reveal how slave labor drove New York's rise as a commercial and financial center. The book accompanied a major exhibition at the New-York Historical Society and draws on rich visual materials from their collections.
Genres: history, non-fiction, african-american-historical-fiction, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-fiction
Setting: New York, Charleston, Lower Manhattan
Period: 18th Century
256 pages · Paperback · New Press
Content warnings: slavery