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Israel on the Appomattox: A Southern Experiment in Black Freedom from the 1790s Through the Civil War
Thomas Jefferson condemned slavery but denied that whites and liberated blacks could live together in harmony. Jefferson’s young cousin Richard Randolph and ninety African Americans set out to prove the sage of Monticello wrong. When Randolph died in 1796, he left land for his formidable bondman Hercules White and for dozens of other slaves. Freed, they could build new lives there alongside white neighbors and other blacks who had gained their liberty earlier.
Fittingly, the Randolph freedpeople called their promised land Israel Hill. These black Israelites and other free African Americans established farms, plied skilled trades, and navigated the Appomattox River in freight-carrying “batteaux.” Hercules White’s son Sam and other free blacks bought and sold boats, land, and buildings, and they won the respect of whites.
Melvin Patrick Ely captures a series of remarkable personal and public free black and white people do business with one another, sue each other, work side by side for equal wages, join forces to found a Baptist congregation, move West together, and occasionally settle down as man and wife. Even still-enslaved blacks who face charges of raping or killing whites sometimes find ardent white defenders.
Yet slavery’s long shadow darkens this landscape in unpredictable ways. After Nat Turner’s slave revolt, county officials confiscate and auction off free blacks’ weapons–and then vote to give the proceeds to the blacks themselves. One black Israelite marries an enslaved woman and watches, powerless, as a white master carries three of their children off to Missouri; a free black miller has to bid for his own wife at a public auction. Proslavery hawks falsely depict Israel Hill to the nation as a degenerate place whose supposed failure proves blacks are unfit for freedom. The Confederate Army compels free black men to build fortifications far from home, until Lee finally surrenders to Grant a few miles from Israel Hill.
Ely tells a moving story of hope and hardship, of black pride and achievement. He shows us an Old South we hardly know, where ties of culture, faith, affection, and economic interest crossed racial barriers–a society in which, ironically, many whites felt secure enough to deal fairly and even cordially with free African Americans partly because slavery still held most blacks firmly in its grip.
Fittingly, the Randolph freedpeople called their promised land Israel Hill. These black Israelites and other free African Americans established farms, plied skilled trades, and navigated the Appomattox River in freight-carrying “batteaux.” Hercules White’s son Sam and other free blacks bought and sold boats, land, and buildings, and they won the respect of whites.
Melvin Patrick Ely captures a series of remarkable personal and public free black and white people do business with one another, sue each other, work side by side for equal wages, join forces to found a Baptist congregation, move West together, and occasionally settle down as man and wife. Even still-enslaved blacks who face charges of raping or killing whites sometimes find ardent white defenders.
Yet slavery’s long shadow darkens this landscape in unpredictable ways. After Nat Turner’s slave revolt, county officials confiscate and auction off free blacks’ weapons–and then vote to give the proceeds to the blacks themselves. One black Israelite marries an enslaved woman and watches, powerless, as a white master carries three of their children off to Missouri; a free black miller has to bid for his own wife at a public auction. Proslavery hawks falsely depict Israel Hill to the nation as a degenerate place whose supposed failure proves blacks are unfit for freedom. The Confederate Army compels free black men to build fortifications far from home, until Lee finally surrenders to Grant a few miles from Israel Hill.
Ely tells a moving story of hope and hardship, of black pride and achievement. He shows us an Old South we hardly know, where ties of culture, faith, affection, and economic interest crossed racial barriers–a society in which, ironically, many whites felt secure enough to deal fairly and even cordially with free African Americans partly because slavery still held most blacks firmly in its grip.
656 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
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August 1, 2014
In the last decade of the 18th century, a Virginian planter left behind a will emancipating his slaves and providing for their futures by bequeathing to them 400 acres of prime agricultural land. The new free black settlement, known henceforth as Israel Hill and its inhabitants as Israelites, offers historians the fascinating perspective of an entire free black community deep in slave territory, an example that serves to shed a surprising light on slaveholder and free black relations.
Time and again in Prince Edward County, where Israel Hill was located, records demonstrate a stunning array of interaction between whites and free blacks - in business and commerce, farming and artisan workshops, in the court house and the jail house, through contracts and wills and county aid. Whilst they were denied any participation in the democratic process, free blacks were not as much as the mercy of the white-decreed laws as might have been expected - justice could be surprisingly even-handed, many of the most repressive laws were often ignored or bypassed and free blacks often showed little hesitation in asserting what rights they did have and bringing frequent suits against their white neighbours.
History has all too often fallen back on the traditional supposedly contemporary view of free blacks as neither fish nor fowl, a pariah race, without the 'comfort' and 'security' of slavery or the true freedom of whites. Taking much of what Southern whites wrote and said about free free blacks at face value has its historical dangers: as Ely repeatedly demonstrates, much of what Southern whites said about the free blacks and ex-slaves in their communities was often directly contradicted by what they did. Despite what it may seem, it was quite easy for whites to denigrate and dismiss an entire race in the abstract whilst continuing often quite friendly relations with its members in the individual.
At no point does Ely ever condone slavery, in the individual or the abstract, and he never denies for a moment that the free blacks were very much second-class citizens in Prince Edward County. But, he argues, insisting on the constant oppression and violation of free black rights denies and disguises the frequent achievements and triumphs of some free blacks - many of whom became relatively prosperous, owning land and business, passing on inheritances to their children and grandchildren, becoming known and respected within their own and the white community.
It is all too easy, Ely argues, to make ourselves feel better about our own society by damning and vilifying the past - "things may not be perfect now," we say, "but it's better than it was then." The irony, as this book shows, is that for some segments of the African-American community in the United States, life before the Civil War could often offer opportunities and achievements that became almost impossible after Emancipation. Indeed, one of Ely's central theses is that Southern whites could quite often treat free blacks with, if not equality, then certain levels of openness and civility precisely because of the existence of slavery, because of their confidence in the inferiority of the blacks and their certainty that those few free blacks in their midst were the aberration, not the rule.
Time and again in Prince Edward County, where Israel Hill was located, records demonstrate a stunning array of interaction between whites and free blacks - in business and commerce, farming and artisan workshops, in the court house and the jail house, through contracts and wills and county aid. Whilst they were denied any participation in the democratic process, free blacks were not as much as the mercy of the white-decreed laws as might have been expected - justice could be surprisingly even-handed, many of the most repressive laws were often ignored or bypassed and free blacks often showed little hesitation in asserting what rights they did have and bringing frequent suits against their white neighbours.
History has all too often fallen back on the traditional supposedly contemporary view of free blacks as neither fish nor fowl, a pariah race, without the 'comfort' and 'security' of slavery or the true freedom of whites. Taking much of what Southern whites wrote and said about free free blacks at face value has its historical dangers: as Ely repeatedly demonstrates, much of what Southern whites said about the free blacks and ex-slaves in their communities was often directly contradicted by what they did. Despite what it may seem, it was quite easy for whites to denigrate and dismiss an entire race in the abstract whilst continuing often quite friendly relations with its members in the individual.
At no point does Ely ever condone slavery, in the individual or the abstract, and he never denies for a moment that the free blacks were very much second-class citizens in Prince Edward County. But, he argues, insisting on the constant oppression and violation of free black rights denies and disguises the frequent achievements and triumphs of some free blacks - many of whom became relatively prosperous, owning land and business, passing on inheritances to their children and grandchildren, becoming known and respected within their own and the white community.
It is all too easy, Ely argues, to make ourselves feel better about our own society by damning and vilifying the past - "things may not be perfect now," we say, "but it's better than it was then." The irony, as this book shows, is that for some segments of the African-American community in the United States, life before the Civil War could often offer opportunities and achievements that became almost impossible after Emancipation. Indeed, one of Ely's central theses is that Southern whites could quite often treat free blacks with, if not equality, then certain levels of openness and civility precisely because of the existence of slavery, because of their confidence in the inferiority of the blacks and their certainty that those few free blacks in their midst were the aberration, not the rule.
January 26, 2018
Brain Food: A hearty green salad
Scandal Level: nihl
Violence: historical slavery and annatbellum racial violence
Must be ___ old to read: 16
Read if you liked: Freedom Road, Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Free State of Jones
Re-readability: come si come sa
Thoughts: This book was assigned for my History 601 course. It gives a different perspective on race relations and slavery in the Antebellum south. While not an apologist for slavery, Ely does call some the common assumptions into question and shows how much more complicates slavery was than it is in our popular imagination. Fascinating, engaging (especially for a historical work of this level of scholarship), and eye opening. Worth checking out!
Scandal Level: nihl
Violence: historical slavery and annatbellum racial violence
Must be ___ old to read: 16
Read if you liked: Freedom Road, Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Free State of Jones
Re-readability: come si come sa
Thoughts: This book was assigned for my History 601 course. It gives a different perspective on race relations and slavery in the Antebellum south. While not an apologist for slavery, Ely does call some the common assumptions into question and shows how much more complicates slavery was than it is in our popular imagination. Fascinating, engaging (especially for a historical work of this level of scholarship), and eye opening. Worth checking out!
February 21, 2024
Amazing read if a little dense at times... Cannot believe that Israel Hill is not more well known
February 15, 2016
This is certainly one of the more unique historical accounts I've read pertaining to slavery and racial boundaries in America. Ely surmises that prior to the total abolition of slavery, there were settlements of freed African Americans living in the antebellum South who demonstrated that blacks were able to live among whites in a nearly egalitarian relationship. Ely utilizes the Virginian settlement of Israel Hill as well as countless examples of documentation from Prince Edward country in Virginia to assert his argument that the racist sentiments prevalent in the South after the abolition of slavery were not necessarily as pronounced with the handful of African Americans living as freedmen in the antebellum South. Overall this was a nuanced and enlightening contribution to my understanding of the American slavery system and the progression of racial relations in America.
August 22, 2013
This is not an easy read, but it is well worth it. I liked the way the author systematically went through all the stereotypes that we associate with the Antebellum South and either explained them or disproved them using this one tiny settlement of free blacks in central Virginia. I know that the points the author makes does not work for all of the South. but it was very interesting to read about how much more complex antebellum society was than what is taught to us.
October 5, 2015
I learned a lot about responsible and critical historical scholarship from this book Dr. Ely does a great job of teasing out meaning from primary documents while knowing when not to take those documents at face value. His thesis - that whites' everyday interactions with free blacks were much less prejudicial than their public rhetoric and laws - is intriguing. The one downside is Ely's systematic and comprehensive presentation of the evidence - it's easy to get bogged down in the detail.
April 9, 2018
This is the story of a free black community organized by Richard Randolph's widow Judith according to the terms of his will. The book is very well researched and presents some startling facts. The author examination new court records and other primary sources and details daily life between free blacks and whites in Prince Edward County, Virginia. As a native Virginian I found this book fascinating. Highly recommend this book.
February 13, 2020
The content of the book is extremely interesting, but it is very pithy and difficult to pick your way through because it provides a lot of information and can oftentimes be dry to read. Still, it was informative and shed light on a fascinating, discounted area of American history.
August 31, 2024
This book’s thesis is very basically that life wasn’t as bad for free Blacks in the Antebellum South as northern abolitionists had alleged, and that Prince Edward County is a good example of this. But there are so many issues with this argument and the book in general that it’s hard not to write a full-length essay. So this list of critiques is for my future reference and anyone who is expecting something different from this book.
-While this book is supposed to be about Israel Hill, the free Black community created by a slaveholder’s will, its more frequently about Prince Edward County in general. I picked this book up for a history of Israel Hill, but left feeling as though I know little about how the community changed with the times. Do descendants of these first residents still live in the region? Who knows? The book abandons the main characters, so we never truly find out.
-This book uses tons of legal documents. That’s fine. The behavior of the law is an important part of the story. But Ely extends the courtroom to the streets. He seems to say that because some Black Virginians successfully defended themselves or sued others in court that trend towards justice must have occurred in everyday life as well. This would only be accurate if 100% of conflicts made it to the court room. That’s obviously not true. There were certainly unreported disputes.
-This book privileges white voices to a ridiculous degree. Ely does not use any material from slave narratives of the region nor does he include any significant written material from the Black community other than legal testimony. Additionally, Ely takes many of these documents written by powerful white people at face value, hardly questioning their validity.
-Ely uses extremes to argue his points. For instance, he’ll put an open-and-shut case against a white criminal side by side with a dubious case against an upstanding Black person. When the white person goes to prison and the Black person is acquitted, Ely seems to say “See? Sometimes the justice system came down harder on white people than Black people.” Arguments like this only hold up when you cherry-pick extreme datapoints.
-This book is also so packed with genealogical data, yet the first (and only) visualization of a family tree comes several hundred pages in. The names and relations get very confusing without any graphic to reference.
-While this book is supposed to be about Israel Hill, the free Black community created by a slaveholder’s will, its more frequently about Prince Edward County in general. I picked this book up for a history of Israel Hill, but left feeling as though I know little about how the community changed with the times. Do descendants of these first residents still live in the region? Who knows? The book abandons the main characters, so we never truly find out.
-This book uses tons of legal documents. That’s fine. The behavior of the law is an important part of the story. But Ely extends the courtroom to the streets. He seems to say that because some Black Virginians successfully defended themselves or sued others in court that trend towards justice must have occurred in everyday life as well. This would only be accurate if 100% of conflicts made it to the court room. That’s obviously not true. There were certainly unreported disputes.
-This book privileges white voices to a ridiculous degree. Ely does not use any material from slave narratives of the region nor does he include any significant written material from the Black community other than legal testimony. Additionally, Ely takes many of these documents written by powerful white people at face value, hardly questioning their validity.
-Ely uses extremes to argue his points. For instance, he’ll put an open-and-shut case against a white criminal side by side with a dubious case against an upstanding Black person. When the white person goes to prison and the Black person is acquitted, Ely seems to say “See? Sometimes the justice system came down harder on white people than Black people.” Arguments like this only hold up when you cherry-pick extreme datapoints.
-This book is also so packed with genealogical data, yet the first (and only) visualization of a family tree comes several hundred pages in. The names and relations get very confusing without any graphic to reference.
December 15, 2023
This is a readable, well-researched book that is readable and engaging with a theme of equality. I agree that this book is a deliberate and educational book about Israel Hill in Appomattox County in Southern Virginia as a free black community by one of Thomas Jefferson's relatives, Richard Randolf on the Bizzare property. Richard Randolf freed all of his slaves in his will in 1797 and this is account of the success of that community Israel Hill from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War. Unlike all of the other books I have read this talks about the success of the community and everything living in a civil society working together both blacks and whites. Free blacks needed to be registered but could have their own businesses, pay taxes and sue if needed to be on a equal footing. It was "bi-racial" community. If you put your head to it, you will succeed. There were still strict laws but it is in the interpretation of the laws that really mattered. Racism still existed but there was an equal share of work, recreational activities, marriages and lawsuits. It is a different picture than usually depicted in the books. This book is based a lot of court cases and first hand accounts. It presents both sides of the argument in a deliberate way with sources and references in the back. It is a academic book but worth the read. It is availiable in hard copy and kindle if needed. I really learned a lot from this book. Read it slowly.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 6, 2019
This is an excellent study, albeit heavy on facts and statistics, but they're basic to the authors thesis, which is to give a glimpse of what life in detail among whites, free blacks, and the enslaved population of Prince Edward County, Virginia, was like. The period covered is from 1790's through the Civil War, based on an EXHAUSTIVE review of any and all county records during the period. Very interesting, enlightening, and eye-opening if one depends on common knowledge assumptions about said relations.
December 29, 2017
Fascinating look at the antebellum South
March 28, 2020
A fascinating read based on documents found in the Prince Edward County court house. Lots of little known stories of freemen in Virginia, and their success in the county where they were once enslaved
September 11, 2023
read for antebellum america course
view the past like a foreign country
view the past like a foreign country
September 20, 2024
Reads dry like a history book, but the knowledge, presentation and source citation makes this a wealth of knowledge for any American.
September 20, 2025
Yess school read
January 23, 2024
One of my favorite professors wrote this so perhaps this review is a bit biased. I loved this book. I feel like I learned much more about the experiences of Black people in the South, and Virginia specifically, than I have anywhere else. I like how this book focused on freedom and the hardships associated with it. I think books like these tend to focus on the great tragedy of slavery (and it is horrible and awful and should be talked about) but the focus on freedom in this book was refreshing and also important to talk about.
September 11, 2009
Great book. Ely examines a community of freedmen living in 19th century Virginia. Rather than the strict observance of racial mores in a slavery society that one would expect, Ely finds instead an atmosphere of accomodation and co-existance. Rather than use this as an argument to minimize the brutality of slavery, Ely argues that this actually heightens the horror as it undermines the Southern protestation that they didn't regard African slaves as human.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews