In this groundbreaking historical exposé, Douglas A. Blackmon brings to light one of the most shameful chapters in American history—an “Age of Neoslavery” that thrived from the aftermath of the Civil War through the dawn of World War II.
Under laws enacted specifically to intimidate blacks, tens of thousands of African Americans were arbitrarily arrested, hit with outrageous fines, and charged for the costs of their own arrests. With no means to pay these ostensible “debts,” prisoners were sold as forced laborers to coal mines, lumber camps, brickyards, railroads, quarries, and farm plantations. Thousands of other African Americans were simply seized by southern landowners and compelled into years of involuntary servitude. Government officials leased falsely imprisoned blacks to small-town entrepreneurs, provincial farmers, and dozens of corporations—including U.S. Steel—looking for cheap and abundant labor. Armies of “free” black men labored without compensation, were repeatedly bought and sold, and were forced through beatings and physical torture to do the bidding of white masters for decades after the official abolition of American slavery. The neoslavery system exploited legal loopholes and federal policies that discouraged prosecution of whites for continuing to hold black workers against their wills. As it poured millions of dollars into southern government treasuries, the new slavery also became a key instrument in the terrorization of African Americans seeking full participation in the U.S. political system.
Based on a vast record of original documents and personal narratives, Slavery by Another Name unearths the lost stories of slaves and their descendants who journeyed into freedom after the Emancipation Proclamation and then back into the shadow of involuntary servitude. It also reveals the stories of those who fought unsuccessfully against the re-emergence of human labor trafficking, the modern companies that profited most from neoslavery, and the system’s final demise in the 1940s, partly due to fears of enemy propaganda about American racial abuse at the beginning of World War II. Slavery by Another Name is a moving, sobering account of a little-known crime against African Americans, and the insidious legacy of racism that reverberates today.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Only one small complaint
I could not put this book down. After I finished I went on to read about white slavery just so that I had a well rounded idea of what was going on during this time. The only small complaint I have is ... Read More
Rating: - Very quick delivery!
Every time I order books directly from Amazon it arrives within three days, and I love that.
Thanks Amazon!
Karyn
Rating: - Slavery by Another Name
Interesting and very informational. As the holy scriptures states, "There is nothing new under the sun". What went on then continues to this very day. So-called African Americans have NEVER been Free! ... Read More
Rating: - Powerful, but exaggerated
All the abuses discussed in this book are accurate, and the author does a fine job in bringing them to life. But the books leaves the reader with the impression that all black workers in the South were virtual ... Read More
Rating: - pleased that the book came in good condition.
I am pleased that the book came in a reasonable amount of time.
- Only one small complaint
- Powerful, but exaggerated