American Slavery, American Freedom was written by Edmund Morgan and published by Norton in 1975. The subject of slavery, through the years, has been more often illustrated rather than actually explained. For some time now, I have been more interested in why slavery took place, rather then how it took place. I specifically chose American Slavery, American Freedom, in hopes of learning a deeper meaning of the significance of slavery and its relationship in shaping America. .
The basic and fundamental point that Morgan seems to drive home in this book is the close relationship between the establishment of freedom and the rise of slavery in America. Morgan believes that these two principals, as opposite as they seem, were both closely intertwined. Morgan supports this idea based on historical facts. Americans themselves wanted so badly to separate themselves from the grips of England that they actually revolted in 1776. Yet, Americans then went on to create a slave labor system that was much more cruel and harsh then they had ever been treated by England. Morgan's primary goal in this book is explaining how and why this happened.
The book examines slavery in great detail and uses Virginia as an example of how America's history was shaped. Much of the book seemed to focus too much on the history of Virginia, rather than the issues of slavery. Morgan also seems to only portray Virginia and colonial life as harsh, brutal, evil, and frightful. Surely there must have been many positive things that took place during this time period. In my opinion the book was too long. Much of the historical details that Morgan discusses in the book are drawn out to the point that I was often finding myself losing interest. It is however quite interesting to follow the book as Morgan shows how a society of people can transition and develop such disturbing characteristics to the point that they don't even realize what they are doing.
