From Slavery to Freedom -first published in 1947 and continually updated with more than three million copies have been sold – describes the rise of slavery, the interaction of European and African cultures in the New World, and the emergence of a distinct culture and way of life among slaves and free blacks. The authors examine the role of blacks in the nation’s wars, the rise of an articulate, restless free black community by the end of the eighteenth century, and the growing resistance to slavery among an expanding segment of the black population.
The book deals in considerable detail with the period after slavery, including the arduous struggle for first-class citizenship that has extended into the twentieth century. Many developments in recent African American history are examined, including demographic change; educational efforts; literary and cultural changes; problems in housing, health, juvenile matters, and poverty; the expansion of the black middle class; and the persistence of discrimination in the administration of justice.
All who are interested in African Americans’ continuing quest for equality will find a wealth of information based on the recent findings of many scholars. Professors Franklin and Moss have captured the tragedies and triumphs, the hurts and joys, the failures and successes, of blacks in a lively and readable volume that remains the most authoritative and comprehensive book of its kind.
Reviews
“From Slavery to Freedom…its in depth discussion of slavery remains one of the most authoritative accounts of the peculiar institution.” –Sacred Fire: The QBR 100 Essential Black Books
“One has to read between the lines, and is left to guess at the man within. But he has been, in the best and deepest sense of the phrase, a genuinely public-spirited citizen, urging his country to do its best by all his fellow citizens and helping his country move in that direction. If his life is indeed a mirror to America, then it is more to an America to which we should aspire than to the America we actually are.” -The Washington Post, Jonathan Yardley
