Freedom's Children: The Passage from Emancipation to the Great Migration

by Velma Maia Thomas

This sequel to 1998's award-winning Lest We Forget chronicles the jubilation and despair of newly freed slaves turned loose, as Frederick Douglass put it, "to the wrath of our infuriated masters."

Without land, money or education, former slaves had to fend for themselves in the hostile environment of a vanquished South. Covering the period from the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation to the start of the Great Migration, Freedom's Children tells the stories of courageous African-Americans who struggled to construct schools and establish businesses while trying to reunite families scattered by slavery. Even the creation of the Freedmen's Bureau could do little to provide real help. So they learned to make their own opportunities, often in other parts of the country.

Extraordinary interactive elements bring the lives of these American heroes into chilling focus. Readers can examine the "Freedman's Third Reader" used to teach former slaves to read, open a change pouch and touch "script" money paid to sharecroppers for use in the company store, peruse an account book from the Freedman's Bank, and much more. Freedom's Children is an unforgettable reading -- and interactive -- experience.

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Natalie Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to share with children.

[Deborah Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful piece of work to be shared with adults or children. There are still stories to be understood about the chronicles of the African American presence. The pop-ups add such value to the history lessons of this book.