Strange New Land: Africans in Colonial America

Strange New Land: Africans in Colonial AmericaEngaging and accessibly written, Strange New Land explores the history of slavery and the struggle for freedom before the United States became a nation. Beginning with the colonization of North America, Peter Wood documents the transformation of slavery from a brutal form of indentured servitude to a full blown system of racial domination. Strange New Land focuses on how Africans survived this brutal process and ultimately shaped the contours of

Engaging and accessibly written, Strange New Land explores the history of slavery and the struggle for freedom before the United States became a nation. Beginning with the colonization of North America, Peter Wood documents the transformation of slavery from a brutal form of indentured servitude to a full-blown system of racial domination. Strange New Land focuses on how Africans survived this brutal process--and ultimately shaped the contours of American racial slavery through numerous means, including:
- Mastering English and making it their own
- Converting to Christianity and transforming the religion
- Holding fast to Islam or combining their spiritual beliefs with the faith of their masters
- Recalling skills and beliefs, dances and stories from the Old World, which provided a key element in their triumphant story of survival
- Listening to talk of liberty and freedom, of the rights of man and embracing it as a fundamental right--even petitioning colonial administrators and insisting on that right.

Against the troubling backdrop of American slavery, Strange New Land surveys black social and cultural life, superbly illustrating how such a diverse group of people from the shores of West and Central Africa became a community in North America.


Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 01/02/2003
ISBN: 9780195158236
Pages: 136
Weight: 0.40lbs
Size: 8.28h x 5.56w x 0.41d

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 05/05/2003 pg. 216