The Great Stain: Witnessing American Slavery

by Noel Rae

In this “essential” (Kirkus) new work, Noel Rae integrates firsthand accounts into a narrative history that brings the reader face to face with slavery’s everyday reality, expertly weaving together narratives that span hundreds of years. From the travel journals of sixteenth-century Spanish settlers who offered religious instruction and “protection” in exchange for farm labor, to the diaries of poetess Phillis Wheatley and Reverend Cotton Mather, to Central Park designer Frederick Law Olmsted’s book about traveling through the “cotton states,” to an 1880 speech given by Frederick Douglass, Rae provides a comprehensive accounting of parties from throughout the antebellum history of the nation. Rae also draws on a wide variety of accounts from less distinguished a surgeon describes the brutal treatment and squalid conditions onboard a slave ship as he made his daily rounds to collect the dead; an Englishman visiting Haiti observes violent uprisings as, separated from the population on the mainland, slaves were able to overpower their captors.Most significant are the texts from and interviews with former slaves themselves, ranging from the famous Solomon Northup to the virtually unknown Mary Reynolds, who was sold away from her mother and subsequently bought back not for sentiment or kindness, but because after losing her daughter, the family’s wet nurse began to waste away from grief. Surpassing a dispassionate listing of atrocities, Rae places the reader within the era.Drawing on thousands of original sources, The Great Stain tells of repression and resistance in a society based on the exploitation of the cheapest labor and fallacies of racial superiority. Meticulously researched, this is a work of history that is profoundly relevant to our world today.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Race, African American, American History, Audiobook, The United States Of America

592 pages, Hardcover

Published February 20, 2018

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not what I thought it was. I don't mean that to say it was a BAD book, because it wasn't... it just wasn't the book I expected. Lemme 'splain.

With fiction, I generally try to go into books blind - I want to let the story unfold and tell me what it is without my having any preconceived notions. I like to know the general genre - am I getting a sci-fi story, or a cozy mystery, crime/thriller, etc - and depending on that, I may want to know a little bit more, but I almost never want to know specifics about the contents/storyline/plot/etc. The more I know, the more my head gets in the way and I start to decide I won't like something before I even read it, or that I will LOVE it, only for it to disappoint somehow.

But with NONFICTION, I want to know a lot more going in. I want to know the topic, the general conclusion or information to be conveyed and whether it will be worth my time and attention, et. And sometimes, like with this book, I will specifically search out a topic I want to read/learn more about.

I found this book after I went looking for a book specifically about how religion was employed in the service of justifying and promoting slavery.

I honestly never would have even thought of this (despite snippets of this topic being included in quite a lot of books that I have read on slavery) if it weren't for an encounter that I had during one of my very short-lived stints on TikTok. A young, white Christian woman made a video about how Christianity doesn't support slavery, and that slaveholders were going against the bible and slavery is condemned in Christianity. And I... disagreed.

Now I am not a religious scholar by any means, nor am I religious at all. These days I'm pretty militantly atheist, in fact. But I have read fairly widely about slavery, and my Google-fu is pretty strong. Knowing that take was just straight up not accurate, I commented, with both historical and Biblical receipts easily found online from multiple sources, and we ended up going back and forth for a bit before I wrote her off as someone who likely had good modern intentions, but was cherry-picking historical fact and biblical content in order to see her religion in a way contrary to the reality of way Christianity was used to uphold, control, and justify slavery in the US. She is perfectly within her rights to believe whatever she chooses, and it was clear I wasn't going to convince her of anything she didn't want to believe, (not that that was really my intention - in those kinds of situations I usually think more about countering the misinfo spread than trying to change the OP's mind or position), so I just moved on with my life.

That interaction has stayed with me and piqued my interest in learning more. And so I went looking to see if there were books I could find on that specific topic, and this one came up. And while the use of religion to uphold slavery was definitely sprinkled throughout, that wasn't the focus of this book as I thought it was. And so in that way, it was a little disappointing. (Seriously, if anyone knows of a book specifically about how religion was used as a tool to uphold and justify slavery and control enslaved people, let me know. I wanna read it.)

But for its own sake, this book WAS really good. It covers pre-colonial slave trade through to the Civil War, and contains a hell of a lot of context and information aimed at depicting what those times were actually like, in people's own voices and words whenever possible. (Obviously, as most enslaved people were intentionally kept illiterate, many of the letters and writings from them were anglicized for the audience of the time.)

This was not really a pleasant book. This is presented mostly via personal accounts, and so the horrors and inhumanity these people endured and witnessed others subjected to were really horrifying. The depravity and cruelty of people in power over those they oppress somehow still manages to shock me.

And yet at the same time, it was strange listening to a man with a British accent reading these accounts. It took me a a bit out of the experience because it felt like it was being related by an "outsider", considering this is "Witnessing AMERICAN Slavery". It just felt like an odd choice to me. I have nothing at all against this reader, and he did a great job, but it just felt wrong for a non-American to be reading it. Maybe that's just me though.

Anyway, overall, it was worthwhile to read, but I did expect something a bit different.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This actually a very good presentation of first hand accounts from the start of the slave trade to the end of the Civil War. I do wish there had been a little more tying together and less famous people, but still damn good.

[Marlys Samler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful book, at times very difficult to read due to the torture and inhuman treatment of the slaves. It includes a lot of firsthand testimonies and original sources. I am sickened by the fact that so many used the Bible to justify their their treatment of slaves and their defense of slavery.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Great Stain is a meticulously researched account of the history of slavery in North America and the Caribbean Sea, with the main focus of the book being on slavery in the United States. A large portion of the book is excerpts from letters, diaries, newspaper accounts, speeches, and interviews with the primary parties involved: slave traders, captains and crew of slave ships, slave owners, abolitionists, and, most important and revealing, slaves themselves. The author, Noel Rae, places these documents in their historical context and provides further explication as necessary, but, by and large, he tells the story of slavery in North America through the words of the historical actors themselves.

I found this book utterly engrossing. It was fascinating to learn about the experience of crossing the Atlantic on a slave ship from the very mouths of the slaves and from the captains of those vessels. Although I had some idea about the horrors of slavery, this horror was made concrete by reading about life on plantations as told by both slaves and slave owners. The chapter on the Civil War was very disturbing as it showed how badly the black troops were treated even by their Northern comrades and officers. This book is a vast compendium of information on every aspect of slavery.

The Great Stain is a marvelous work of historical research. Anyone interested in understanding slavery on a very personal level, from its beginnings in the Caribbean and later the North American continent to its final ending in the Civil War, will not find a better book than this.

[Josh Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

In terms of information, this book was helpful- I did learn some things. But I was left wondering whether its author had used a responsible method for research: it presents itself like its “just the facts” and tries to let sources “speak for themselves,” but without a lot of sophistication about context, I was left wondering how many selections were just a sort of hand-picked evidence that propped up its relatively centrist preconceptions. And whether enough primary research was really done- there are a lot more black voices, for example, than were presented here, and the bibliography also seems less than comprehensive in that respect.

[Karen Koppy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was different than most historical books on slavery because it was filled with quotations from historical figures including pro-slavery and antislavery men and women. It was unreal to read the rationalizations the pro-slavery people promoted. It was arranged pretty chronologically to follow the origins of slavery up to the time of the civil war. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in real-life experiences of race relations around the world and in the US. I think it was unbiased in regards to the historical perspectives. I particularly was impressed with the many quotes of Frederick Douglass. He was such an amazing man.

[Jessica Biggs]

DNF
This was painful to read, not because of the tragic subject but due to how it was written. I even tried listening to it, but the narrator was British which is an odd choice for decidedly American topic. There are far better book about this subject such as Stamped from the beginning, How the word is passed, and the 1619 project

[P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps this should be a five star review, as it is in some sense amazing. A hard book to read in some sections given the brutality described. Begins with some narratives of the old-world side of the slave trade, but then focuses in on the North American colonial/United States experience.

[Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

If your library does have this book please bring it to their attention. It is a difficult read not because of the size but because it gathers the personal narratives of not only the known but the unknown. Noel Rae gives voice to the unheard.

[Renata Janney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would be a great book for a 100-level History class. I found myself wishing he’d either focused on fewer things and given them the full attention they’d deserved, or expanded out and gone with a more impressionistic approach like Svetlana Alexievich.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Page after page of witness testimonies, time lined history told in smooth detailed fashion. If you read one book about slavery in america, make it this one.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting look at slavery in America has heard from those that live during the time the book covers slavery. I think the book was very well done.

[Bonnye Reed]

The Archive 2.99

[Kyla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book wasn’t really what I expected but was very informative and combined testimony from the time period. I did skim read it a bit in certain areas. But I do love history books.

[Tony Tian-Ren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be require reading for everyone. I’ve read most books on the history of slavery but the depth of human evil has no end. It keeps getting worse and worse. How can a human being perform such evil acts?

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

History of slavery consisting mostly of the slaves' and slaveholder's own words. Powerful documentation of a horror that should not be forgotten.

[Mills College Library]

306.36209 R134 2018