Slavery, a word that can be defined no better than a menacing and brutal act that brought terror to African American lives. In the early to middle 1800's the race began to discover hope to rid themselves the lack of freedom. With the help of abolitionists and other people fighting against slavery, light was beginning to shine at the end of the long, bloody tunnel. Sadly, the freedom from slavery did not come without obstacles. Many blacks were victims of segregation and even emigration out of the country. The purpose of this book is to explain the period of slavery and the situations of Negroes from 1790 to 1860.

The author, Leon F. Litwack, published this book in 1961. He began teaching in 1964 after earning a B.A. in 1951 and a Ph.D. in 1958. He is the A.F. and May T. Morrison Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley, and is a past president of OAH. North of Slavery was his first major publication. He later wrote Been in the Storm So Long: The Aftermath of Slavery (1980). The book was the winner of the Pulitzer and Francis Parkman prizes. His latest book is Trouble in Mind: Black Southerners in the Age of Jim Cro

Litwack doesn't seem to have any real strong contentions. Without him expressing any thoughts throughout the book, it is impossible to prove what his contentions are. He simply writes the facts and nothing more. He is also very straightforward through his work.

North of Slavery is loaded with quotes. I would guess that about 50% of the book includes quotations. Litwack uses these quotes in addition to his own writing. The quotes are used to express each side of African American freedom. There are direct phrases taken from both white and black abolitionists and antislavery leaders, as well as quotes from slavery supporters and Negro "haters" as I will call them.

I actually learned a lot from reading this book. I never realized how ridiculous some white people could be. Litwack included a quote in the text, which was stated by Senator John C. Calhoun talking about Negroes in the military: "It was wrong to bring those who have to sustain the honor and glory of the country down to a footing of the negro race - to be degraded by being mingled and mixed up with that inferior race." (p.33) The Senate then agreed with him to exclude African Americans from the army. This is an example of how bad it really was for "free" blacks. Litwack made the right choice to add quotes like these to the book.

The author's theme of the book is presented as the subtitle, which is "The Negro in the Free States 1790 - 1860." Step by step, Litwack explains the situations of Negroes during that time period. He expresses absolutely no opinion in the book. The writing is completely factual information. He tells it as it happened without providing any of his feelings or reactions.

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Approximate Word count = 1159
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)