A Slave No More

by By David W. Blight

Harcourt. 299p $25

As the 150th anniversary of the Civil War approaches, we also anticipate the 75th anniversary of a remarkable transformation in the historiography of the abolition of American slavery. In the late 1930s, the Works Progress Administration decided to conduct interviews with the last surviving former slaves. With the added impetus of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, historians of the later 20th century examined the roles of slaves themselves in effecting their own emancipation. A large number of narratives written by slaves have been published, most recently some works of fiction by black women published in the last five years.

I can remember seeing, as a child in Boston, a late Victorian-era sculpture in Park Square that depicted Abraham Lincoln unshackling an African-American. Today’s historians realize that the contributions of white abolitionists were only part of the story, perhaps not even the decisive part. However, the story of just how effective slave resistance was in the outcome of the Civil War is still largely unknown to the majority of white Americans.

This article appears in February 18 2008.