Review of "Enslavement in Memphis," by G. Wayne Dowdy,

 Review of

Enslavement in Memphis, by G. Wayne Dowdy, ISBN
9781439673225

Five out of five stars

Slavery, as specific to a city

 If you have done any study of slavery in the United States, then there will be little in this book that will be new to you. There is mention of slaves, even very young children, being sold off to pay debts or to settle an estate. After all, they were property. Announcements of upcoming auctions of prime slaves are also displayed. While most slaves worked in the tobacco and cotton fields, some had skills needed to build things. Memphis is a city in Tennessee, and slave labor did a great deal to build the structures of the city.

 This book is a description of the basic components of the social construct of slavery as it was practiced in Memphis and the enormous economic value of slavery. It is often forgotten that for many white southerners, their most valuable asset was the slaves they owned. This led to much of the resistance that whites had to the abolition of slavery. Such an act would have wiped out billions of dollars of assets.

 Some of the personal experiences of slaves are described, generally, the owners come across as less than ideal as owners and people. Some of the free blacks are also mentioned, there are also stories of blacks determined to flee their plight and head north to freedom.

 While slavery was generally practiced in a similar manner in all the states where it was legal, the actual practice did differ a bit from location to location. In this book, you will learn some of the specifics of how slavery was practiced in Memphis, Tennessee. While slavery was part of society, the level of support for the practice was not as strong as it was in other states.

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