- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: OUP USA (9 Mar 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0195160886
- ISBN-13: 978-0195160888
- Product Dimensions: 16.5 x 11.9 x 1.5 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,144,152 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
In Search of the Promised Land
and over 900,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"In Search of the Promised Land is a unique and exciting addition to the literature on slavery and nineteenth-century history. It shows the complexity of slave life and challenges existing historical interpretations without completely overturning the studies of the last thirty years. . . . I love the story itself--what a story!"--James Fuller, University of Indianapolis
"The book's focus on the Thomas-Rapier family provides for one of the more vivid presentations of antebellum race relations I have seen. So much of scholarship on slave life tends to lose sight of individuals who had to confront life in a slave society. This book brings individuals back into the picture."--Dickson D. Bruce, University of Irvine California
Product Description
The matriarch of a remarkable African American family, Sally Thomas went from being a slave on a tobacco plantation to a "virtually free" slave who ran her own business and purchased one of her sons out of bondage. In Search of the Promised Land offers a vivid portrait of the extended Thomas-Rapier family and of slave life before the Civil War. Based on personal letters and an autobiography by one of Thomas's sons, this remarkable piece of detective work follows the family as they walk the boundary between slave and free, traveling across the country in search of a "promised land" where African Americans would be treated with respect. Their record of these journeys provides a vibrant picture of antebellum America, ranging from New Orleans to St. Louis to the Overland Trail. The authors weave a compelling narrative that illuminates the larger themes of slavery and freedom while examining the family's experiences with the California Gold Rush, Civil War battles, and steamboat adventures. The documents show how the Thomas-Rapier kin bore witness to the full gamut of slavery--from brutal punishment, runaways, and the breakup of slave families to miscegenation, insurrection panics, and slave patrols. The book also exposes the hidden lives of "virtually free" slaves, who maintained close relationships with whites, maneuvered within the system, and gained a large measure of autonomy.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS BEFORE JAMES THOMAS WAS FREED, and some ten years before he was born, his mother began a journey of her own. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS BEFORE JAMES THOMAS WAS FREED, and some ten years before he was born, his mother began a journey of her own. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon U.K.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.7 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent History of an Antebellum Slave Family, 25 Nov 2005
By Lee Freeman "lfreeman_histgen" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: In Search of the Promised Land: A Slave Family in the Old South (New Narratives in American History) (Hardcover)
Drs. Schweninger and Franklin have written an excellent history of the remarkable slave woman Sally Thomas and her three sons, James and Henry Thomas and John H. Rapier, Sr.
The book chronicles the fortunes of a "quasi-free" slave woman and her efforts to secure freedom and financial security for her three mulatto sons in Nashville, Tennessee. The authors deftly describe the often contradictory attitudes of while Nahvillians to African-Americans, both slaves and free people of color. For example, though techincally still a slave, Sally Thomas nevertheless, as a "quasi-free" slave was able to buy property, own her own home, and become a successful and respected businesswoman (opening her own laundry on Deadrick Street), as did her sons James, Henry and John (who were all three successful barbers). The authors describe a further contradiction in white attitudes to Antebellum blacks as, after much hard work and thriftiness Sally saved up enough money to buy her son James' freedom. After being granted their freedom free blacks were required by Tennessee law to leave the state, However James (and several other free persons of color), based upon exemplary moral character, successfully petitioned the court to be allowed to remain in Nashville.
The book also chronicles the lives and adventures of Sally's three sons, James and Henry Thomas and John H. Rapier, Sr.. One of Rapier's sons, James Thomas, was elected to the US Congress from Alabama in 1873.
The book does a great job of putting the Thomas-Rapier family into the context of the times in which they lived, vividly describing the social, political and religious life of Nashvile residents, both white and black, slave and free in the 1820s, 30s, 40s and 50s. As stated above, the book also demonstrates the often contradictory views of African-Americans taken by whites and portrays the ways in which slaves like Sally Thomas enjoyed relationships with whites, artfully maneuvered within the system of slavery to gain a large measure of autonomy, and were in the end respected by whites. This book may serve to overturn some long-held assumptions regarding Antebellum slavery. The authors do a masterful job of describing just how "peculiar" the institution of slavery was in actual fact.
As a resident of the Rapiers' home town of Florence, Alabama, as well as a genealogist and historian at our public library, "In Search of the Promised Land," along with Schweninger's earlier "James T. Rapier and Reconstruction," and his publication of the autobiography of James P. Thomas, "From Tennessee Slave to St. Louis Entrepeneur," is a valubale addition to our Rapier family record collection. The authors are to be commended on their impeccable research and scholarship, while at the same time, weaving this scholarship into a genuinely readable and enjoyable narrative. I highly recommend this book. My only criticism would be the hardback's small size. Still, at 280 pages, a great book!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
So much in so little, 2 Feb 2006
By Elaine Johnson - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: In Search of the Promised Land: A Slave Family in the Old South (New Narratives in American History) (Hardcover)
I was taken back by the small size of this book and then taken back again by how much history it contains. Not the stuff of dry history textbooks, this book illuminates this era with detail you won't find elsewhere and engages the reader with its intensely personal story.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A slave family in the old west, 19 July 2009
By J. Rankin "jess" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: In Search of the Promised Land: A Slave Family in the Old South (New Narratives in American History) (Hardcover)
This is exactly what the seller described and it came in just a few days
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biography > Historical > Social & Urban History
- Books > Biography > Historical > United States > Social & Urban History
- Books > Biography > Political > United States
- Books > Biography > Social & Health Issues > Cultural History > African-American & Black
- Books > Biography > Social & Health Issues > Slavery
- Books > History > Cultural History
- Books > History > North America > African Americans
- Books > Science & Nature > History & Philosophy > Reference
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Multicultural Studies > Black Studies
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Sociology
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
