Hard Labor: The First African Americans, 1619

by Patricia C. McKissack, Fredrick L. McKissack Jr., Joseph Daniel Fiedler (Illustrator)

This illustrated historical chapter book introduces young readers to some of the very first African Americans, who came to American in the early seventeenth century.

In 1619, twenty Africans stepped foot on American soil as indentured servants. They came with dreams of the future, knowing if they could hold on and finish out their sentences, they would be free. Who were they, how did they get here, and did their lives go the way they imagined? Details of their stories have been lost over time but what remains is an important piece of American history.

Genres: Africa, History

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Patricia C. McKissack was the Newbery Honor, Coretta Scott King Award-winning author of The Dark-Thirty and Porch Lies an ALA Notable Book. She collaborated with Jerry Pinkney on Goin' Someplace Special (Coretta Scott King Award winner) and Mirandy and Brother Wind (Coretta Scott King Award winner and Caldecott Honor Book).

Reviews

[Luci]

This book was such a good survey of slavery for younger readers. It spanned from ancient times, and then specifically from the 1500s to 1700. It adeptly explained the shift from indentured servitude for Africans arriving in the colonies to slavery. I really appreciated the last section weaving in Anthony Johnson's real-life story as an indentured servant, to a successful landowner and farmer, to losing much of his property (all of it upon his death) due to racism. It has fantastic "we've been here longer than you" James Baldwin vibes.

[Ro]

Very interesting.

[Amy Shook]

I read this book aloud with my third graders. It is from our text exemplar shelves, organized by grade. My students found the text extremely complex. I will say, however, they did get a big take away in the concept that racism was not an inherent feature found in American culture from the very beginning, but instead was a hatred and fear born directly from our particular slave society.

[Stephanie]

Very interesting. I learned a lot and my heart was broken.