Semester Two Book Review – Saltwater Slavery

719 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Colonization of africa

In her novel Saltwater Slavery, Stephanie Smallwood punctiliously analyzes the transformation of humans into essential commodities in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by detailing the horrors of captivity and annihilation of social structure. Before identifying the slave life nascent in America, Saltwater Slavery begins by examining the slave trade in West Africa. Smallwood focuses her work on the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of those who were adversely affected by slavery. The author then takes the reader away from the Gold Coast and focuses her attention on African uprisings, death, starvation, and maltreatment. In the first three chapters of the book, Smallwood details the process of turning African captives into human commodities by describing how strategically merchants pushed their slaves almost to death as well as how the West African slave market shaped the slaves and prepared them for what was to come in the Americas. Following this account, Smallwood expands on the process of preserving and recreating of African identities in the Americas by drawing from records of slaves and social relations formed amongst the African minority. The last two chapters deal with the immersion of the African slaves into the American culture and their challenges in the New World. Despite the fact that a plethora of historical references regarding slavery and the Atlantic slave trade exist, Smallwood interestingly and uniquely comes up with a book more personal to the inner workings of the slave trade. Smallwood wrote a chronicle that places more importance on personal experiences to enlighten the readers in a more captivating fashion. This point of view is showcased when she identifies an old African female slave named ‘Sibe... ... middle of paper ... ...anufactured goods for slaves with the Americas. In Saltwater Slavery, Smallwood effectively encompasses these intricate details on a smaller scale and shows how they affected American slave life. Overall, the novel Saltwater Slavery is very well crafted and easy to follow. It offers a very detailed account on the personal aspects of what it was like to be a slave and endure those horrendous conditions. Smallwood’s use of personal accounts makes the book credible, interesting, and unique, and her thoughtful execution of all of the elements of the Atlantic slave trade makes it an enjoyable read for anyone interested in the global timeline of slavery from the west coast of Africa to the prosperous lands of the New World. Works Cited Smallwood, Stephanie E. Saltwater Slavery: A Middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2007. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Understanding Slavery: Its Impact on American Psyche and Economy

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    This makes for a very interesting read. Johnson’s personal writing style does not shine through much due to the way he chose to build narrative around historical sources, but nevertheless he tells an interesting, cohesive story that draws the reader in and exposes some of the insidious history surrounding the trade of slaves in our history. The book is divided into seven sections, ten including the introduction and epilogue, as well as a section dedicated to illustrations of historical documents alluded to in the text. Johnson also includes a section entitled “Notes,” where he has compiled his sources. The “Notes” section is not a straight bibliography. It also includes helpful author notes describing the context of sources that did not fit in the main narrative, and references for those wanting to do their own research. For example, one note includes information on a book by Tadman which contains information on the number of slaves traded. The author includes a summary, including migration numbers and the percentage of those numbers directly related to the trade. This section is helpfully divided and labeled, with the notes referred to in each part of the book labeled by section. Each notation and illustration is referenced within the text by numbers, which coincide with each note or illustration offering more

    Read More

  • Slavery John Barabot Summary

    1272 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the major questions asked about the slave trade is ‘how could so Europeans enslave so many millions of Africans?” Many documents exist and show historians what the slave trade was like. We use these stories to piece together what it must have been to be a slave or a slaver. John Barbot told the story of the slave trade from the perspective of a slaver in his “A Description of the Coasts of North and South Guinea.” Barbot describes the life of African slaves before they entered the slave trade.

    Read More

  • Olaudah Equiano And Phillis Wheatley's View On Religion

    1464 Words  | 3 Pages

    The origin tale of the African American population in the American soil reveals a narrative of a diasporic faction that endeavored brutal sufferings to attain fundamental human rights. Captured and forcefully transported in unbearable conditions over the Atlantic Ocean to the New World, a staggering number of Africans were destined to barbaric slavery as a result of the increasing demand of labor in Brazil and the Caribbean. African slaves endured abominable conditions, merged various cultures to construct a blended society that pillared them through the physical and psychological hardships, and hungered for their freedom and recognition.

    Read More

  • What did freedom mean to harriet jacobs

    1325 Words  | 3 Pages

    To understand the desperation of wanting to obtain freedom at any cost, it is necessary to take a look into what the conditions and lives were like of slaves. It is no secret that African-American slaves received cruel and inhumane treatment. Although she wrote of the horrific afflictions experienced by slaves, Linda Brent said, “No pen can give adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery." The life of a slave was never a satisfactory one, but it all depended on the plantation that one lived on and the mast...

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass and Slavery

    1020 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the United States grew, the institution of slavery became a way of life in the southern states, while northern states began to abolish it. While the majority of free blacks lived in poverty, some were able to establish successful businesses that helped the Black community. Racial discrimination often meant that Blacks were not welcome or would be mistreated in White businesses and other establishments. A comparison of the narratives of Douglass and Jacobs demonstrates the full range of demands and situations that slaves experienced, and the mistreatment that they experienced as well. Jacobs experienced the ongoing sexual harassment from James Norcom, just like numerous slave women experienced sexual abuse or harassment during the slave era. Another issue that faced blacks was the incompetence of the white slave owners and people. In ...

    Read More

  • American Slavery Book Review

    968 Words  | 2 Pages

    The "American Slavery" Book Review This book achieved its goal by reflecting on the past and history of American Slavery. We can see in much detail what America was and has become throughout the era of slavery. It was the Colonial era that America began to see what true slavery would soon become. The author, Peter Kolchin, tries to interpret the true history of slavery. He wants the readers to understand the depth to which the slaves lived under bondage.

    Read More

  • The Injustice Upon African Americans Slaves

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    Klein, Herbert S. The middle passage: Comparative studies in the Atlantic slave trade. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press , 1978. 282. Print.

    Read More

  • Slavery: Harriet Smith V. George Johnson

    1397 Words  | 3 Pages

    Slavery has always been viewed as one of the most scandalous times in American history. It appears that the entire institution of slavery has been capsulized as white masters torturing defenseless African Americans. However, not every slave has encountered this experience. In this essay I will present the life of two former slaves Harriet Smith and Mr. George Johnson and how similar as well as different their experiences were based on interviews conducted with each of them. The negative aspects of slave life were undeniably heinous and for that reason especially, it is also important to also reveal the lives of slaves whom were treated with dignity and respect.

    Read More

  • Harriet Jacobs Incidents And A Slave Girl: An Analysis

    1129 Words  | 3 Pages

    Slavery is a term that can create a whirlwind of emotions for everyone. During the hardships faced by the African Americans, hundreds of accounts were documented. Harriet Jacobs, Charles Ball and Kate Drumgoold each shared their perspectives of being caught up in the world of slavery. There were reoccurring themes throughout the books as well as varying angles that each author either left out or never experienced. Taking two women’s views as well as a man’s, we can begin to delve deeper into what their everyday lives would have been like.

    Read More

  • 12 Years a Slave

    1194 Words  | 3 Pages

    Northup, Solomon, Sue L. Eakin, and Joseph Logsdon. Twelve years a slave. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1968. Print.

    Read More

  • Deborah Gray White’s Ar’n’t I a Woman?

    1623 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the novel, the author proposes that the African American female slave’s need to overcome three obstacles was what unavoidably separated her from the rest of society; she was black, female, and a slave, in a white male dominating society. The novel “locates black women at the intersection of racial and sexual ideologies and politics (12).” White begins by illustrating the Europeans’ two major stereotypes o...

    Read More

  • African American History in America

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    From Slavery to Freedom: African in the Americas. (2007). Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Retrieved October 7, 2007 from Web site: http://www.asalh.org/

    Read More

  • Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl And Frederick Douglass

    1202 Words  | 3 Pages

    The issue of Slavery in the South was an unresolved issue in the United States during the seventeenth and eighteenth century. During these years, the south kept having slavery, even though most states had slavery abolished. Due to the fact that slaves were treated as inferior, they did not have the same rights and their chances of becoming an educated person were almost impossible. However, some information about slavery, from the slaves’ point of view, has been saved. In this essay, we are comparing two different books that show us what being a slave actually was. This will be seen with the help of two different characters: Linda Brent in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Frederick Douglass in The Narrative of the life of Frederick

    Read More

  • Slavery by Another Name

    584 Words  | 2 Pages

    For most American’s especially African Americans, the abolition of slavery in 1865 was a significant point in history, but for African Americans, although slavery was abolished it gave root for a new form of slavery that showed to be equally as terrorizing for blacks. In the novel Slavery by Another Name, by Douglas Blackmon he examines the reconstruction era, which provided a form of coerced labor in a convict leasing system, where many African Americans were convicted on triumphed up charges for decades.

    Read More

  • Reversing the Master and Slave Role in Benito Cereno

    1088 Words  | 3 Pages

    conditions aboard ship were dreadful. The maximum number of slaves was jammed into the hull, chained to forestall revolts or suicides by drowning. Food, ventilation, light, and sanitatio...

    Read More

More about Semester Two Book Review – Saltwater Slavery

Open Document