slavery

• 
• SOURCE: CNN
  9/5/2021
  

  This Prominent Virginian did Free His Slaves after Championing Liberty

  Robert Carter III's manumission of 500 of his slaves in 1791 was a rebuke to his fellows who publicly abhorred slavery but insisted it couldn't be practically abolished. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Nation
  9/8/2021
  

  What Is Owed: The Limits of Darity and Mullen's Case For Reparations

  by William P. Jones

  A historian argues that a recent and influential book calling for reparations could strengthen its case by considering the arguments made by historians about the connections of American slavery to other manifestations of racism. What's needed is to link reparations to a global overturning of racial inequality.

• 
• 9/12/2021
  

  Teaching "All Men are Created Equal" (Part I)

  by Jeff Schneider

  A longtime teacher of American history maintains that a close reading of the Declaration of Independence makes it possible to discuss revolution and racism in a thoughtful way without intimidating either white students or students of color.

• 
• 9/8/2021
  

  The Specter of Emancipation and the Road to Revolution: A Rejoinder to Richard Brown et. al.

  by Woody Holton

  Woody Holton responds to a recent open letter of criticism by six Revolutionary-era historians of his interpretation of the significance of slavery as a motivation for colonial independence. 

• 
• SOURCE: Medium
  9/7/2021
  

  Group of Historians Challenges Woody Holton's Interpretation of the Significance of Dunmore's Proclamation

  by Richard D. Brown et. al.

  A group of scholars argues that the famous 1775 decree by Lord Dunmore that enslaved Virginians who joined the British forces would be emancipated was a desperate act that followed, not precipitated, the drive of white Virginians toward independence. 

• 
• SOURCE: Bitter Southerner
  8/17/2021
  

  Who Owns Uncle Ben?

  by Shane Mitchell

  "Why would anyone preserve a crop, no matter how flavorful and aromatic, with such a disturbing heritage?" Shane Mitchell examines why.

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  8/4/2021
  

  Overturning Five Myths of the Haitian Revolution

  by Julia Gaffield

  Many understandings of the Haitian Revolution, from its intellectual and political roots, to its military progress, to its political consequences, are at best half-truths. And it did not entail "white genocide." 

• 
• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  8/1/2021
  

  August 1 Was Emancipation Day in Britain, but Abolition Didn't Create Freedom

  by Padraic X. Scanlon

  Emancipation in the British West Indies was accompanied by policies that maintained the racial hierarchy necessary for profit through labor exploitation. 

• 
• SOURCE: NBC News
  8/3/2021
  

  Historian Rebecca Hall's New Graphic Novel Highlights Women's Role in Slave Revolts

  With illustrator Hugo Martinez, Rebecca Hall's debut graphic novel examines women's roles in slave rebellions during the Middle Passage and in the Americas. 

• 
• 8/1/2021
  

  "Forget the Alamo" Synthesizes Revisionist Scholarship for Today's History Wars

  by James Thornton Harris

  Academics have long understood Texas's heroic founding myths centered on the Alamo to be cover stories for the cause of slavery and white supremacy, but they've been tenacious parts of the state's culture. A new book joins the battle as state leaders dig in to defend those myths. 

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  7/21/2021
  

  The United States Owes Haiti a Debt it Can't Repay

  by Annette Gordon-Reed

  The Haitian Revolution set in motion events that transformed France, North America, and the Caribbean, but conflicts were invariably resolved at the expense of independent Haiti. 

• 
• 7/18/2021
  

  The History of Systemic Racism that CRT Opponents Prefer to Hide

  by Clyde W. Ford

  The importation of African people to Virginia in 1619 spurred the process of establishing racial hierarchy through law, a historical reality the right seeks to deny.

• 
• SOURCE: TIME
  7/13/2021
  

  'The Myth Itself Becomes a Stand-in.' What Can the Alamo's History Teach Us About Teaching History?

  by Olivia B. Waxman

  Historian Raúl A. Ramos discusses the way that the myth of the Alamo has supplanted the real history, and how new state laws stand in the way of the teaching that a multiethnic Texas needs. 

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  7/4/2021
  

  Her Family Owned Slaves. How Can She Make Amends?

  "For almost three years now, with the fervor of the newly converted, Ms. Marshall has been on a quest that from the outside may seem quixotic and even naïve. She is diving into her family’s past and trying to chip away at racism in the Deep South, where every white family with roots here benefited from slavery and almost every Black family had enslaved ancestors."

• 
• SOURCE: NPR
  7/4/2021
  

  What The Haitian Revolution Tells Us About The U.S. Movement For Racial Equality

  Historian Marlene Daut on the significance of the Haitian Revolution for America's unfinished struggle for racial equality. 

• 
• SOURCE: TIME
  7/4/2021
  

  You Can't Tell the Story of 1776 Without Talking About Race and Slavery

  by Robert G. Parkinson

  John Adams worked diligently in the years after the Declaration to craft an origin story of common purpose that obscured the importance of issues of race and slavery to the pursuit of independence. 

• 
• SOURCE: Boston Review
  6/30/2021
  

  Looking for Nat Turner

  Christopher Tomlins' new book takes seriously the apocalyptic Christianity of Nat Turner, viewing it not as a metaphor for liberation but a key part of how Turner understood freedom. 

• 
• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  7/1/2021
  

  The Statue of Chief Justice Taney Never Belonged in the Capitol

  by Corey M. Brooks

  “If a man,” famed Massachusetts radical Charles Sumner asserted, “has done evil during his life he must not be complimented in marble.” Instead Sumner demanded “the name of Taney … be hooted down the page of history.”

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  6/25/2021
  

  The Emancipation Proclamation did not End Slavery. Here’s what Did

  by Clarence Lusane

  Chattel slavery was ended by the enactment of the 13th Amendment. Whatever the merits of recognizing the Juneteenth holiday, it commemorates the specific emancipation of enslaved Texans, and not national abolition. 

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Center for Equitable Growth
  6/24/2021
  

  New Research Shows Slavery’s Central Role in U.S. Economic Growth Leading up to the Civil War

  Historian Sven Beckert and economist Mark Stelzner's collaborative research applies new methods for quantifying how much the labor productivity of enslaved people contributed to economic output, as well as identifying the gap between white households with and without slaves as a driver of inequality.