Understanding Slavery: 13 Classic Books of History and Reflection
Testimony, Abolition, Ideology, and Memory in the History of EnslavementBy Annie L. Burton, William Wells Brown, George Thompson, Robert J. Breckinridge, John H. Van Evrie, Beverley B. Munford, William Wilberforce, James Bronterre O'Brien, Timothy Williston, A. C. Baldwin, R. B. Thurston, United States. Work Projects Administration, T. W. Hoit, Moses Grandy, Isaac Allen
Length65h 40m
About this audiobook
Understanding Slavery: 13 Classic Books of History and Reflection gathers testimony, polemic, history, political economy, and moral argument into a searching archive of slavery's lived realities and ideological contests. Its range moves from firsthand narratives of enslavement and escape to abolitionist appeals, proslavery apologetics, legal and social commentary, and later documentary recovery. Such juxtapositions make the volume more than a record of suffering: it exposes the language through which slavery was defended, resisted, remembered, and studied. Accounts grounded in personal experience stand in especially revealing tension with works that sought to naturalize racial domination. The contributors include formerly enslaved writers, antislavery activists, reformers, political commentators, and defenders of slavery, alongside materials associated with the United States Work Projects Administration. Collectively, these voices illuminate the transatlantic abolitionist movement, nineteenth-century debates over citizenship and racial hierarchy, and the enduring labor of historical preservation. British humanitarian argument intersects with American slave narratives and sectional controversy, while later federal documentation signals how memory of bondage entered public history. This volume is recommended for students and general readers seeking a capacious introduction to slavery's histories and representations. Its multiple genres and antagonistic viewpoints encourage careful comparative reading, ethical reflection, and attention to evidence. By placing testimony beside propaganda and historical interpretation, the collection offers an invaluable education in how slavery shaped literature, politics, and collective memory.
Audiobook details
GenreHistory, Literary Classics
Length65 hrs 40 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateMar 4, 2025
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Narrative of William W. Brown
2Narrative of William W. Brown
3TO WELLS BROWN, OF OHIO
4CHAPTER VII
5CHAPTER XIV
Show all chaptersShow less
6Discussion on American Slavery
7DISCUSSION.
8SECOND NIGHT—TUESDAY, JUNE 14.
9THIRD NIGHT—WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15.
10FOURTH NIGHT—THURSDAY, JUNE 16.
11FIFTH NIGHT—FRIDAY, JUNE 17. (pt. 1)
12FIFTH NIGHT—FRIDAY, JUNE 17. (pt. 2)
13APPENDIX.
14Negroes and Negro "Slavery:" the first an inferior race: the latter its normal condition
15PREFACE.
16CHAPTER I. CAUSES OF POPULAR DELUSION.
17CHAPTER II. GENERAL LAWS OF ORGANIZATION.
18CHAPTER III. THE HUMAN CREATION.
19CHAPTER IV. HISTORICAL SUMMARY.
20CHAPTER V. COLOR.
21CHAPTER VI. FIGURE.
22CHAPTER VII. THE HAIR.
23CHAPTER VIII. THE FEATURES.
24CHAPTER IX. LANGUAGE.
25CHAPTER X. THE SENSES.
26CHAPTER XI. THE BRAIN.
27CHAPTER XII. GENERAL SUMMARY.
28CHAPTER XIII. MULATTOISM AND MONGRELISM.
29CHAPTER XIV. THE “SLAVE TRADE,” OR THE IMPORTATION OF NEGROES.
30CHAPTER XV. NATURAL RELATIONS AND NORMAL CONDITION OF THE NEGRO.
31CHAPTER XVI. CHATTELISM.
32CHAPTER XVII. EDUCATION OF NEGROES.
33CHAPTER XVIII. THE DOMESTIC AFFECTIONS.
34CHAPTER XIX. MARRIAGE.
35CHAPTER XX. CLIMATIC AND INDUSTRIAL ADAPTATION.
36CHAPTER XXI. NORTH AND SOUTH.—ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN IDEA OF GOVERNMENT.
37CHAPTER XXII. THE ALLIANCE OF NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN PRODUCERS.
38CHAPTER XXIII. THE FUTURE OF THE NEGRO.
39CHAPTER XXIV. CONCLUSION.
40Virginia's Attitude Toward Slavery and Secession
41PART I
42I
43II
44PART II
45III
46IV
47V
48VI
49VII
50VIII
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