What are the origins of slavery and race-based prejudice in the mainland
American colonies? How did the Atlantic slave trade operate to supply
African labor to colonial America? How did African-American culture form
and evolve? How did the American Revolution affect men and women of
African descent?
Previous editions of this work depicted African-Americans in the
American mainland colonies as their contemporaries saw them: as persons
from one of the four continents who interacted economically, socially,
and politically in a vast, complex Atlantic world. It showed how the
society that resulted in colonial America reflected the mix of Atlantic
cultures and that a group of these people eventually used European ideas
to support creation of a favorable situation for those largely of
European descent, omitting Africans, who constituted their primary labor
force.
In this fourth edition of African Americans in the Colonial Era: From
African Origins through the American Revolution, acclaimed scholar
Donald R. Wright offers new interpretations to provide a clear
understanding of the Atlantic slave trade and the nature of the early
African-American experience. This revised edition incorporates the
latest data, a fresh Atlantic perspective, and an updated
bibliographical essay to thoroughly explore African-Americans' African
origins, their experience crossing the Atlantic, and their existence in
colonial America in a broadened, more nuanced way.
