African American History: A Very Short Introduction

by Jonathan Scott Holloway

What does it mean to be an American? The story of the African American past demonstrates the difficulty of answering this seemingly simple question. If being "American" means living in a land of freedom and opportunity, what are we to make of those Americans who were enslaved and have suffered from the limitations of second-class citizenship throughout their lives? African American history illuminates the United States' core paradoxes, inviting profound questions about what it means to be an American, a citizen, and a human being.

This book considers how, for centuries, African Americans have fought for what the black feminist intellectual Anna Julia Cooper called "the cause of freedom." It begins in Jamestown in 1619, when the first shipment of enslaved Africans arrived in that settlement. It narrates the creation of a system of racialized chattel slavery, the eventual dismantling of that system in the national bloodletting of the Civil War, and the ways that civil rights disputes have continued to erupt in the more than 150 years since Emancipation. This Very Short Introduction carries forward to the Black Lives Matter movement, a grass-roots activist convulsion that declared that African Americans' present and past have value and meaning. At a moment when political debates grapple with the nation's obligation to acknowledge and perhaps even repair its original sin of racialized slavery, author Jonathan Scott Holloway tells a story about American citizens' capacity and willingness to realize the ideal articulated in America's founding document, namely, that all people were created equal.

176 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 2, 2023

Reviews

[Michael DeVito · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty solid book going over the basics of African American History in the US.

I enjoyed reading this perspective because from my time learning history I haven't really touched much of African American History. The topic of slavery is a tough pill to swallow; but I think the author did good with being open and honest about what actually happened. I feel like a lot of commentaries are made to try and convey some sort of political opinion, but this one felt pretty neutral to me which I appreciate.

There were some confusing portions, specifically towards the end of the book when discussing more modern-day movements such as BLM and legislation like affirmative action. I felt like there should have been a clearer definition of what affirmative action really was and what its affects were, as well as more context overall in these sections.

My primary issue with this book was that the majority of it focused on solely race relations, not really diving into African American culture. I would have appreciated this book a lot more if it had discussed the history of African American music, religion, and traditions. Instead, it focused a lot more on racism and slavery than I imagined it would.

Other than that, this book was solid. Probably not something I'd re-read, but a good perspective. Note that I was required to read chapters 1-4 for my Honors African American History course, I read the rest of the book on my own accord.

[Josiah Harmon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Literally like every other history book discussing African American history. The author does a decent job of describing the major movements and macro level struggles but never really delves into the individual lives or culture of people at the time. I found that to be disappointing as I am reading this for my history class that supposedly revolves around African American culture just as much as it does on race relations. A little disappointed that we’ve reduced African American history to simply race relations.

[MICHAEL KIBBE · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a genuinely strong primer—clear without being shallow, concise without being evasive.

Holloway does an important thing early on: he refuses the comforting myth that Reconstruction was simply a “failed experiment.” By explaining how the post-Reconstruction era came to be called Redemption, he shows how white political power deliberately reasserted itself through violence, law, and narrative control. That framing alone corrects a lot of inherited misunderstandings.

What I appreciated most is how the book consistently treats African American history as structural, not episodic. Slavery, emancipation, segregation, migration, and civil rights are presented not as isolated chapters but as linked processes shaped by economics, law, and power. You come away with a clearer sense of how inequality was built and maintained—not just that it existed.

This is not a substitute for deeper works like Du Bois’s Black Reconstruction in America, but it’s an excellent orientation text. In fact, it pairs well with heavier reading: it gives you the timeline, the vocabulary, and the stakes, so that more demanding books land with greater force.

If you want a short book that respects your intelligence and prepares you to read further—rather than pretending to be the final word—this is a solid place to start.