American slavery, American freedom : the ordeal of colonial Virginia

"Thoughtful, suggestive and highly readable."- New York Times Book Review In the American Revolution, Virginians were the most eloquent spokesmen for freedom and quality. George Washington led the Americans in battle against British oppression. Thomas Jefferson led them in declaring independence. Virginians drafted not only the Declaration but also the Constitution and the Bill of Rights; they were elected to the presidency of the United States under that Constitution for thirty-two of the first thirty-six years of its existence. They were all slaveholders. In the new preface Edmund S. Morgan writes: "Human relations among us still suffer from the former enslavement of a large portion of our predecessors. The freedom of the free, the growth of freedom experienced in the American Revolution depended more than we like to admit on the enslavement of more than 20 percent of us at that time. How republican freedom came to be supported, at least in large part, by its opposite, slavery, is the subject of this book. American Slavery, American Freedom is a study of the tragic contradiction at the core of America. Morgan finds the keys to this central paradox, "the marriage of slavery and freedom, " in the people and the politics of the state that was both the birthplace of the Revolution and the largest slaveholding state in the country The Men Who Came Together To Found The Independent United States Either Held Slaves Or Were Willing To Join Hands With Those Who Did. George Washington, Hero Of The Revolution, Was The Master Of Several Hundred Slaves. Thomas Jefferson, Author Of The Declaration Of Independence, Owned More Than 200 Men, Women, And Children While Eloquently Defending The Right To Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Happiness. In This Classic Work, Originally Published In 1976, Through A Meticulous History Of Virginia From Its Earliest Settlement Through The Seventeenth Century Boom In Tobacco, The Gradual Replacement Of Servitude With Slavery, And The Rise Of Republican Ideology, Historian Morgan Reveals The Deep And Interlocking Relationship Between These Seemingly Contradictory Ideas.--from Publisher Description. The Promised Land: Dreams Of Liberation ; The Lost Colony ; Idle Indian And Lazy Englishman ; The Jamestown Fiasco ; The Persistent Vision ; Boom -- A New Deal: Settling Down ; Living With Death ; The Trouble With Tobacco ; A Golden Fleecing -- The Volatile Society: The Losers ; Discontent ; Rebellion ; Status Quo -- Slavery And Freedom: Toward Slavery ; Toward Racism ; Toward Populism ; Toward The Republic -- Appendix: Population Growth In Seventeenth-century Virginia.. Edmund S. Morgan. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 433-441) And Index. BOOK I: THE PROMISED LAND 1. DREAMS OF LIBERATION 2. THE LOST COLONY 3. IDLE INDIAN AND LAZY ENGLISHMAN 4. THE JAMESTOWN FIASCO 5. THE PERSISTENT VISION 6. BOOM BOOK II: A NEW DEAL 7. SETTLING DOWN 8. LIVING WITH DEATH 9. THE TROUBLE WITH TOBACCO 10. A GOLDEN FLEECING BOOK III: THE VOLATILE SOCIETY 11. THE LOSERS 12. DISCONTENT 13. REBELLION 14. STATUS QUO BOOK IV: SLAVERY AND FREEDOM 15. TOWARD SLAVERY 16. TOWARD RACISM 17. TOWARD POPULISM 18. TOWARD THE REPUBLIC