From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans
by John Hope Franklin, Alfred A. Moss Jr. (Author)
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From slavery to freedom describes the rise of slavery, the interaction of European and African cultures in the New World, and the emergence of a distinct culture and way of life among slaves and free Blacks. The authors examine the role of Blacks in the nation's wars, the rise of an articulate, restless free Black community by the end of the eighteenth century, and the growing resistance to slavery among an expanding segment of the Black population.Tags
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Member Reviews
From Slavery to Freedom a history of African Americans actually starts earlier than slavery times beginning with a brief overview of some of the kingdoms and cultures of Africa and a general description about the way of life somewhat common to those groups from which most slaves were taken. It then goes on to colonial times in the Americas, including South America and the Caribbean in the early period, though the focus in later periods is definitely on the U.S. It continues through to the present time of the last revision which was in 2000. It covers a lot of ground, from political to economic, the arts, sport, Blacks in the military, etc. It covers some areas that I have read about in other books, such as the use of prison labor in the show more south which is covered much more extensively in Slavery by another Name and the institutional, including Federal support for segregation in the North, covered more completely in Sweet Land of Liberty:The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North. But, all in all, it is pretty thorough and a very readable overview. I would recommend it, as well as the other two books. show less
Very biased. Simply tells the story from a Liberal perspective, celebrating only Liberal Blacks and Liberal Whites. Fails to mention Republicans voted for VRA of 1964 and VRA of 1965 in greater percentages than the Democrats. Fails to credit Nixon with signing Affimative Action into law. Fails to mention FDR nominated a former Klansmen to the Supreme Court (Hugo Black), and fails to mention that the filbuster of the Civil Rights Act was by Robert Byrd, then and now, a Democratic Senator from WV (and also a former Klansman). Can we get even a little balance?
Required reading for Ethnic History class
Earlier Editions: 1947, 1956, 1967, 1974, 1980, 1988, 1994
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Author Information
32+ Works 2,492 Members
The son of an attorney who practiced before the U.S. Supreme Court, John Hope Franklin was born in Rentiesville, Oklahoma on January 2, 1915. He received a B. A. from Fisk University in 1935 and a master's degree in 1936 and a Ph.D. in 1941 from Harvard University. During his career in education, he taught at a numerous institutions including show more Brooklyn College, Harvard University, the University of Chicago, and Duke University. He also had teaching stints in Australia, China, and Zimbabwe. He has written numerous scholarly works including The Militant South, 1800-1861 (1956); Reconstruction After the Civil War (1961); The Emancipation Proclamation (1963); and The Color Line: Legacy for the 21st Century (1993). His comprehensive history From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African-Americans (1947) is generally acknowledged to be the basic survey of African American history. He received numerous awards during his lifetime including the Medal of Freedom in 1995 and the John W. Kluge Prize for the Study of Humanities in 2006. He worked with Thurgood Marshall's team of lawyers in their effort to end segregation in the 1954 case Brown v. Board of Education and participated in the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was president of the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, the Southern Historical Association, and the American Studies Association. He was also a founding member of the Black Academy of Arts and served on the U.S. Commission for UNESCO and the Committee on International Exchange of Scholars. He died of congestive heart failure on March 25, 2009 at the age of 94. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans
- Original title
- From Slavery to Freedom. A History of African Americans
- Original publication date
- 1947
- Important events
- Spanish-American War (1898); African-American Civil Rights Movement
Classifications
- Genres
- History, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 973.0496073 — History & geography History of North America United States United States Ethnic And National Groups Other Groups African Americans African Americans
- LCC
- E185 .F825 — History of the United States United States Elements in the population Afro-Americans Status and development since emancipation
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 888
- Popularity
- 30,249
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.94)
- Languages
- 5 — English, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 28
- ASINs
- 25
