slavery

Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis

Published on December 7, 2012 | 8 Responses

As I’ve scoured the lists of books about revolutionary America for a book to read for my own education, I struggled to find one that covered a variety of people (I love biographies, but I can’t read one about everyone!) and eras (I would love to learn about all eras of the revolution, from the pre-revolution, the actual war years, to the beginning of the republic and later political fall out). At the same time that I’m I’ve been searching for the perfect book about the revolutionary era, I remembered I had picked up a used copy of Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph Ellis (Vintage Books, 2000) in a previous year’s book sale. I decided it was the book to read right now.

I was expecting Founding Brothers to be a collection of mini-biographies about the “brothers” of the revolutionary generation. Or maybe it would be about the Constitutional Convention and how they all worked together. Honestly, I did not know what it was, but any expectations I did have were far surpassed in Ellis’s complex portrait of the generation that founded the country. His work is both thorough and completely readable. (more…)

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony: A Friendship that Changed the World by Penny Colman

Published on October 13, 2011 | 10 Responses

I wonder if my recent news about my upcoming arrival prompted me to notice this book on the New Books shelf? Possibly. Baby Monkey is a GIRL! and I’m delighted and excited that Raisin will have a little sister.

At any rate, when I saw the biography of the two foremost proponents of women’s rights (at least for the last half of the 1800s), I felt the need to pick it up and read it. For, although I know the name of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and I’ve of course been exposed the Susan B. Anthony as an historical figure, I knew very little of the work, the lives, and the legacy of the two women.

Penny Colman’s young adult biography of the two women (titled Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony: A Friendship That Changed the World) tells their story, especially focusing on the women’s rights work that they dedicated their lives to. Although the book had some flaws, it was full of history that I needed to learn and I’m glad I read it. (more…)

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Published on July 21, 2011 | 5 Responses

Melodrama is defined by Merriam-Webster as

a work characterized by extravagant theatricality and by the predominance of plot and physical action over characterization.

By creating a world with both excessively good characters and excessively evil characters, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel about the horrors of slavery is certainly melodramatic.

Yet, given her intended audience and the era in which she was writing, she could not have had the impact she had in Uncle Tom’s Cabin without the melodrama. Although Ms Stowe wrote a rather didactic novel about the evils of slavery and the true meaning of “Christian”, the stereotyped characters became beloved friends to the reader, and the continued action kept the reader engaged. There was nothing remarkable about the writing – and I personally tired quickly of the novel’s style.

Nevertheless, it is clear Ms Stowe created a masterful classic of historical importance by her techniques in writing Uncle Tom’s Cabin (first published 1852). Reading the novel helps one better understand the difficulties of slavery in the years immediately preceding the Civil War, particularly because the arguments against slavery Ms Stowe makes are so emotional and realistic.

This post contains spoilers of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. (more…)

Three Books about American Slavery: All Different Kinds of Free, To Be a Slave, and Chains

Published on June 14, 2011 | 12 Responses

Three books I ended up reading during the 48HBC were about slavery, plus I’m still in the middle of Gone with the Wind, which provides a quite different perspective on the institution. I really enjoyed the topical reading, because it’s giving me a more holistic view of slavery in different eras through different eyes.

Of the three 48HBC books, one was a fictionalized true story, another a nonfiction Newbery honor book collecting true stories from former slaves, and the last was another award-winning book for children/young adults about slavery during the Revolutionary War. All three were excellent, and I am glad I’ve read them all, especially close together.

The title of the fictionalized true story, All Different Kinds of Free, accurately captures my afterthoughts on this topic, for slavery (and its counterpart, freedom) comes in all different forms. The three books all differ in style, setting, story, and passion. (more…)

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Published on October 6, 2010 | 10 Responses

In Kindred by Octavia Butler (1979), a modern black woman’s ancestors haunt her, calling her back to them for assistance. Dana comes to terms with her own family’s history and comes to understand firsthand just what her predecessors dealt with. Kindred is not a pleasant story. After all, it deals with slavery and the question of what makes freedom. Yet, Dana was an honorable woman, and I felt her struggle as she came to terms with her family’s past.

(more…)