Just Finished Reading: American Slavery – A Very Short Introduction by Heather Andrea Williams (FP: 2014) [118pp] 

It’s kind of odd, but makes sense after a few moments thought, that American slavery is older than America itself. Afterall, the colonies that eventually became America – and not just the British colonies on the Eastern seaboard – existed long before the subsequent battles for Independence, and those colonies, British, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese had slaves. These enforced labourers where in addition to the ‘indentured servants’ who worked for around 7 years before been given land to work for themselves. These were, by and large, black Africans either imported directly from Africa or via places like Cuba who already had a thriving slave population. Some Native Americans were also enslaved initially but proved to be more trouble than they were worth and, in general, were shipped off to the Caribbean often in exchange for African slaves from there. Slaves were used to do every task imaginable, from domestic duties to forest clearance and growing of various crops – cash or otherwise. As the colonies grew and demand for workers bloomed, so did the slave trade to keep pace with demand. In some colonies the slave population made up a significant percentage of the total headcount which, as you might expect not only led to a certain amount of understandable anxiety on the slave owners' part but also led to further problems post-Independence. Where political power was concerned do slaves count towards a state's population – even though they cannot and probably never will, vote - and if they do count then just how much do they count?  

Of course, with the 20-20 vision that hindsight provides it's easy to see that Independence missed a huge opportunity to divest the new nation of its slave past. With the stated belief that ‘all men are created equal’ it might have seemed obvious that such a belief and the institution of slavery are mutually exclusive. The missing factor was, naturally, money. Slavery, and the free labour it produced massively favoured those in control of it. Although the idea of abolishing the practice was, briefly, muted it was very quickly dismissed as unworkable (and simple economic suicide). To ensure the ‘balance of power’ in Congress it was agreed that Slave & Free states would forever be in parity so no one side could impose its beliefs on the other. Initially working quite well, the process of adding new states caused ever greater friction between the two ideological/political positions. Something had to give, and it did with the birth of the Confederate States and the Civil War that followed. With the end of that bloody conflict slavery ended too, but the echoes of that institution are still felt to this day and America is still dealing with the fallout. It will be dealing with this for some generations to come. 

I think I had a fair impression of the highlights of this well-written slim volume, but I still found much to add to my knowledge of the subject. I was most intrigued by the missed opportunity – if they’d only had the courage and power to do so – of getting rid of slavery as America became a fully independent nation which would have been one of the crowning achievements of that country's foundation. But it was not to be, much to the disappointment of some at the time and the many in the century ahead. If you’re looking for a high-level and brief overview of American slavery – along with the usual extensive bibliography – this is the book for you. Recommended.

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