From slavery to freedom: a history of African Americans

¶ … Slavery to Freedom - a History of African-Americans by John Hope Franklin and Alfred a. Moss JR.

The main thesis of this particular book is an examination of the struggles that African-Americans have gone through from the time that they actually left Africa all of the way through to the end of the twentieth century. This was a very large undertaking, but the authors apparently believed that it was also a highly important one, or they would not have worked so hard on a book that chronicled so much of history and provided so much information. Throughout the book the authors make many claims and statements, but they also back up their claims with information that is both factual and informative. It is highly important when writing a work of this type that the information presented is found to be factual and that the writers of this type of material are honest about where the information came from and whether claims and statements that they make can be proven to be true by historical evidence. The authors of this particular book have taken great care to ensure that they can provide historical documentation and information for the claims that they make.

Originally published in 1947, the book includes a wealth of information, with an eighth edition now providing more coverage of Africa and further material in each one of the chapters so that individuals that are interested in studying this very important change in history can do so in a more thorough way now. The book generally begins with the rise of slavery and from there it moves on to what African-Americans went through during the slavery years. It also examines issues such as the type of culture that both slaves and free African-Americans had and how the resistance to slavery grew until eventually something had to be done to change the course of history.

The period of time after slavery, however, is one of the most important focuses of the book, and this is due to the fact that freedom from slavery did not give African-Americans the same-as-Caucasian citizenship that they wanted. They were no longer slaves, but they were not treated as though they were equal, either, and this made them second-class citizens in the way that they were treated by others. Unhappiness with this treatment began to build and become more significant as African-Americans battled problems with housing, health care, education, poverty, and juvenile difficulties. These issues were all very significant to those that fought against a lack of equality during that time period, and the authors of the book make it clear that they are not holding anything back as they chronicle both the triumphs and the tragedies that African-Americans have faced throughout history.

Anyone who is interested in what African-Americans have had to go through would likely find this book very interesting. It is very thorough regarding the problems that African-Americans faced and the triumphs that they achieved as well. Not everyone will like the book, of course, because everyone is different based on their likes and dislikes as well as what they enjoy reading about, but even so there is likely something in this book for everyone that has any interest in what African-Americans have been through since the days that they were put on boats and brought to this country as slaves.