James Horton & Lois Horton, Slavery and the Making of America

Slavery and the Making of America

James Horton and Lois Horton

Oxford, Oct 2004, $35.00, 254 pp.

ISBN: 019517903X

SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA is a terrific historical account of the roles and influence that the black slaves made on the United States. The Hortons provide an insightful look on how the slaves impacted all aspects of culture from the first arrivals during the colonial period through the Revolution, the early nineteenth century fulfillment of Manifest Destiny, and finally the Civil War and post Reconstruction. The authors pull no punches while making a solid logical argument with strong supporting evidence that blacks were major players in the colonial and birth of a nation America. Especially interesting is the deep look at various roles and of unknown people. Anecdotal reciting and photographs augment this superb account of how much the black slaves influenced America. Easy to read but difficult to put down because the book is so engrossing, this is a fabulous tome that history buffs will take immense delight in as the Hortons make their case quite interesting as they shatter preconceptions of early American History with insightfulness.

Harriet Klausner