Slavery

Seventeen primary documents reflect various aspects of slavery, especially concerning the slave trade, foreign perspectives on America's peculiar institution, the slave's experience, slave resistance, and abolitionism. Offering the perspectives of Southern gentlemen, foreign visitors (including soldiers and revolutionaries), abolitionists, and especially the slaves themselves, particular chapters discuss slave auctions, plantation life, the status of women, punishment, religion, rebellion, escape, the economic role of slavery, the comparison to wage-slavery in the north, and abolitionist strategies. A chronology and an introductory essay are provided.