Strange new land : African Americans, 1526-1776 / Peter H. Wood.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wood, Peter H., 1943- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African Americans--History--To 1863.

African Americans.

Africans--North America--History.

Africans.

Slavery--United States--History.

Slavery.

United States--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 110 p., [8] p. of plates ) ill., map ;

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York, New York : Oxford University Press, 2003.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Engaging and accessibly written, Strange New Land explores the history of slavery and the struggle for freedom before the United States became a nation. Beginning with the colonization of North America, Peter Wood documents the transformation of slavery from a brutal form of indentured servitude to a full-blown system of racial domination. Strange New Land focuses on how Africans survived this brutal process--and ultimately shaped the contours of American racial slavery through numerous means, including: - Mastering English and making it their own - Converting to Christianity and transforming the religion - Holding fast to Islam or combining their spiritual beliefs with the faith of their masters - Recalling skills and beliefs, dances and stories from the Old World, which provided a key element in their triumphant story of survival - Listening to talk of liberty and freedom, of the rights of man and embracing it as a fundamental right--even petitioning colonial administrators and insisting on that right.Against the troubling backdrop of American slavery, Strange New Land surveys black social and cultural life, superbly illustrating how such a diverse group of people from the shores of West and Central Africa became a community in North America.

Contents:

Buried beyond the fence

The earliest Africans in North America

The uncertain century

The terrible transformation

A nation of newcomers

A world of work

Building a culture

Breaking the bonds

"Liberty! liberty!"

Chronology.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 98-103) and index.

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-19-028916-3

0-19-803593-4

1-280-56433-4

1-4237-7491-4

OCLC:

1027139144