Strange New Land: Africans in Colonial America - Couverture souple

Wood, Peter H.

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0195158237 ISBN 13 : 9780195158236

Editeur : OUP USA, 2003

Synopsis

Strange New Land IN Full description

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

Engaging and accessibly written, Strange New Land explores the history of slavery and the struggle for freedom before the United States became a nation. Beginning with the colonization of North America, Peter Wood documents the transformation of slavery from a brutal form of indentured servitude to a full-blown system of racial domination. Strange New Land focuses on how Africans survived this brutal process--and ultimately shaped the contours of American racial slavery through numerous means, including: - Mastering English and making it their own - Converting to Christianity and transforming the religion - Holding fast to Islam or combining their spiritual beliefs with the faith of their masters - Recalling skills and beliefs, dances and stories from the Old World, which provided a key element in their triumphant story of survival - Listening to talk of liberty and freedom, of the rights of man and embracing it as a fundamental right--even petitioning colonial administrators and insisting on that right. Against the troubling backdrop of American slavery, Strange New Land surveys black social and cultural life, superbly illustrating how such a diverse group of people from the shores of West and Central Africa became a community in North America.

Revue de presse :

Wood offers a splendid synthesis of recent research for a lay reader's edification and, despite often horrific events, pleasure; the scholarly foundation upon which the book rests is hidden under its simple, straight-forward and graceful style. This is an amazing 'little' book, a really masterful distillation. (Publishers Weekly)

While his selection of facts and figures is illuminating throughout, what makes the work a particular pleasure are Wood's inspired discussions; he ably links facts and puts them into larger contexts for readers. An obscure chapter in American history, rendered vividly. (Kirkus Reviews)

Charts the arrival of blacks to this country between 1617-1776, exploring the earliest Africans in this country and their attempts to retain and rebuild a new culture in a strange land. (Children's Bookwatch)

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: OUP USA
• Date d'édition: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0195158237
• ISBN 13: 9780195158236
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 136