American Slavery: History in an Hour

History In An Hour

by Kat Smutz, Jonathan Keeble (Narrator)

From the first slaves arriving in Jamestown in 1619, the cotton fields in the Southern States, and shipbuilding in New England, to the slaves who laid down their lives in war so that Americans could be free, American Slavery in an Hour covers the breadth of the subject without sacrificing important historical and cultural details.

An important and dark time in Black—and American—history, the era of American slavery is explored in American Slavery in an Hour, which will explain the key facts and give you a clear overview of this much discussed period of history, as well as its legacy in modern America.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook

Audiobook

First published December 8, 2011

Reviews

[Dr. Appu Sasidharan (Dasfill)]

“Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.” ― Abraham Lincoln

This book deals with the history of Slavery in America. It discusses about the first slaves who arrived in Jamestown to the slaves who sacrificed their lives in the American war.

[Deacon Tom (Feeling Better)]

A short and easy overview of Slavery. Lots of pictures make it even more interesting.

[Alona]

Again??
My review is gone!!

[Steven Fox]

Some facts that I didn't, very well written.

[John R Cobb]

American Slavery by Kat Smutz is an abbreviated discourse about what some used to refer to as America’s “Peculiar Institution”. Fancy words to denote such a shameful period of American history… I generally appreciate how societal forces shape the mindsets of those living during certain times and in certain places. However, I cannot even attempt to rationalize the circumstances that gave birth to this “Peculiar Institution”, much less comprehend how it was allowed to perpetuate for so long, especially when there were so many protesting against it.

Anyhow, I appreciated the subject matter of this well written tome. Some of the names, places, and dates, I had learned about in long ago history classes. Other factoids, I had picked up here and there through my own meandering research and readings. Regrettably, I’ve forgotten much of what I had learned, so it was good to revisit.

Obviously, there were many factors involved with the introduction of Slavery to the Americas and the Great Civil War that abolished the practice in the United States. In the many years since his assassination, Americans have lionized President Lincoln. No doubt, he does deserve such praises. Nonetheless, President Lincoln was a man of his times, so it was fascinating to learn of the moral contradictions he struggled with. For a time, he advocated for colonizing freed blacks to Africa. Evidently, there were some asinine viewpoints of the times that I won’t attempt to delve into. Anyways, President Lincoln finally stepped up and offered an undeniable moral justification for an unpopular war that claimed the lives of countless Americans.

With history, a summation of events usually doesn’t satiate me. I need more breadth and depth of information. I like to understand how events affected people living during those times. So, the “History in an Hour” series is what it is. However, the series is definitely a good resource to discover where your interests might lie and encourage you to learn more.

[Sir Robbiethehoo]

I wanted a brief overview of American slavery rather than a huge tome. This book delivered that. It was fairly straight forward in its deliverance of the facts but I still felt it was a bit too overly academic in style for one’s own tastes and purposes - in a brief overview I want it brief, light and easily understandable. I particularly liked the appendixes. The profiles of the key people related to American slavery was interesting and the time line of events very useful. A good book for a brief insight into a much larger and varied subject.

[Thordur]

Much too difficult subject for just an hour listening. There is a spoiler here. If you haven't read Uncle's Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe than you will find a spoiler while listening, how that book factually is and ends. The reader reads too fast like he is bored and would like to get this over with. And somehow the listening becomes both confusing and boring. History in an hour is by far most often very good but this one is an objection to that.

[Brian]

This is a good primer. Alot of this information I had digested when I read A People History of the US, but that was dense and disparate. This was focused and succinct. Anyone wondering why a movement like "Black Lives Matter" should exist needs to refresh their history of slavery in the US.

[Markéta Forejtová]

Tyhle recenze se budou dost opakovat, ale v dobrém, protože jsem konečně našla stručnou, jasnou a přehlednou sérii audioknih o světových událostech. Tohle je podle mě skvělý i třeba k maturitě! Doporučuju.
4/5*

[tj]

It's a great start in reading this part of history. Makes history a nice easy read

[Matt]

While the book is well written and moves along at a regular pace without getting too weighed down the way that some books acting essentially as history textbooks do, it turned out to be less in-depth than I had hoped it would be. It doesn't skimp on the history and factual details, but at points the general disgusting quality of slavery seems to overtake the narrative in place of dates and locations. This is not entirely a bad thing as it makes the history more of a narrative and easier to retain; however, the balance between these two instances tends to go more one way or the other rather than remaining an even mix. It didn't miss any major points or events that I could think of, and acted as both a good review and expansion upon the course of events I was already familiar with. The one shortcoming here was that the book ends pretty much with the start of reconstruction and only gives a few sentences to what was to go on during that time.

[Steven Errington]

An average quick read covering key points of the Slave trade. A good place to start but (as is understandable with this 60 min series) you'll need to follow up to get a fuller picture.

[Nick Harriss]

By its nature a basic introduction to the subject, but a decent starting point.

[Mary]

Good enough introduction, not as well put together a some of the other titles in the series.

[GirlGoneBookish]

This is a fast read that gives you all the basic facts in an easy to understand, not boring way!

[Lukas Lovas]

Short and informative for those who didn't know much about it.

[Brian Bigelow]

This is well written book that is a very concise look at slavery in the US.

[Aleria]

Just finished listening to it, great listen by the way. im actually taking US History to 1865 for college an were on slavery. So a good recap on things :)

[Patrick]

Short little book may a bit too short for the topic .

[Jessica]

This, like the rest of the books in this series, is a great intro to an important subject. I really like these books. They are great starting points and as audiobooks, they are quite soothing to listen to during my morning commute. Jonathan Keeble has quickly become one of my favorite narrators.

If you are looking for a substantial and short take on the history of American slavery, this is a great start.