History of Slavery in America, A

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A wonderful adjunct to the Black Americans of Achievement series, A History of Slavery in America and A History of the Civil Rights Movement are both excellent one-volume introductions to their respective subjects. Using woodcuts, paintings, and photos, interwoven with interview clips from historians and scholars, A History of Slavery in America begins with the first shipment of slaves to Jamestown in 1619, and chronicles the growth of the plantation system in the South, the development of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793 (which greatly increased the need for labor), the fiery revolt by the slave Nat Turner in 1831, the rise of the abolitionist movement, the roles of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman in championing freedom for slaves, the bloody Civil War, and the long-awaited Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 which legally ended the institution of slavery. A History of the Civil Rights Movement continues the story with the emergence of Jim Crow laws in the South which ensured that black citizens would receive unequal treatment; the devastating Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision in 1896 which made segregation the law of the land; the differently-focused efforts to bring about social justice of Booker T. Washington (an advocate of education and work), W.E.B. DuBois (a philosopher and activist), and Marcus Garvey (who led the back to Africa movement); and the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision of 1954 which denounced the "separate but equal" doctrine. This decision set the stage for civil rights struggles beginning with Rosa Parks refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger the following year, and continuing though the movements led by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. While neither program is intended to offer the in-depth treatment of Eyes on the Prize and Eyes on the Prize II, both are superb overviews which will serve as excellent introductions. A History of Slavery and A History of the Civil Rights Movement in America are highly recommended and Editor's Choice's.

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