By Norman Coombs
Publisher: Twayne, (c 1972)
Contents
[Preface] [Acknowledgments] Introduction (omitted from electronic version)
PART ONE From Freedom to Slavery
1. African Origins
[The Human Cradle] [West African Empires] [The Culture of West Africa]
2. The Human Market
[The Slave Trade] [Caribbean Interlude]
3. Slavery As Capitalism
[The Shape of American Slavery] [North American and South American Slavery] [Slavery and the Formation of Character] [Slave Response]
4. All Men Are Created Equal
[Slavery and the American Revolution] [Slave Insurrections] [Growing Racism]
Part Two. Emancipation without Freedom
5. A Nation Divided
[Black Moderates and Militants] [White Liberals] [Growth of Extremism]
6. From Slavery to Segregation
[Blue, Gray, and Black] [Reconstruction and Its Failure] [The New Racism]
7. Racism and Democracy
[Fighting Jim Crow] [Making the World Safe for Democracy] [Urban Riots] [The Klan Revival]
Part Three. The Search For Equality
8. The Crisis of Leadership
[The Debate Over Means and Ends] [Booker T. Washington: The Trumpet of Conciliation] [W. E. B. DuBois: The Trumpet of Confrontation] [Marcus Garvey: The Trumpet of Pride] [A. Philip Randolph: The Trumpet of Mobilization]
9. The New Negro
[Immigration and Migration] [Harlem: "The Promised Land"] [The Negro Renaissance] [Black Nationalism]
10. Fighting Racism at Home and Abroad
[Hard Times Again] [The Second World War] [The U.S. and the U.N.]
11. Civil Rights and Civil Disobedience
[Schools and Courts] [The Civil Rights Movement]
12. The Black Revolt
[Civil Disorders] [Black Power]
[Epilogue]
Notes and References (omitted from electronic version)
Bibliography (omitted from electronic version)
Index (omitted from electronic version)
Preface
During the last several years, the study of American history has turned a new direction. Previously, it emphasized how the various immigrant groups in America shed their divergent heritages and amalgamated into a new nationality. More recently, scholars and laymen alike have become more sensitive to the ways in which these newcomers have kept aspects from their past alive, and there is a new awareness of the degree to which ethnicity continues as a force within America.
Most of the original settlers were British, Protestant, and white. Many of the later arrivals differed from them, in one or more ways. History books usually depicted these new waves of immigrants as assimilating almost fully into American society. However, recent writings have put more stress on the ethnic diversities which remain and on the rich variety of contributions which were made to the American scene by each new nationality.
This volume depicts the immigrants from Africa as one among the many elements which created present-day America. On the one hand, they differ from the other minorities because they came involuntarily, suffered the cruelties of slavery, and were of another color. All of this made their experience unique. On the other hand, they shared much in common with the other minorities, many of whom also felt like aliens in their new land.
Throughout most of American history, political power has been held tightly by the white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant majority. Historical presentations which stressed the political component, thereby tended to leave the later immigrants in the background. However, because these newcomers did not assimilate fully into the mainstream of America, they maintained some of their ethnic identity and made fresh and unique contributions to American life. A socio-cultural approach to history, through highlighting society and culture rather than politics, brings these minorities into proper focus.