African American Slavery in Historical Perspective

by Clyde N. Wilson

THE AFRICAN AMERICAN SERVITUDE that ended more than a century and a half (about 6 generations) ago has still today a powerful emotionally-driven presence in American public life. Many who use the term “slavery” have no real knowledge of what life was like for Americans, black and white, in times past.

The position of Africans in America has long presented a moral challenge. In what became the
United States, bondage of the black African race existed for about two and a half centuries—in other
parts of the world, including Africa, it existed much longer.

The subject of slavery today is entwined with unhealthy and present-centered emotions and
motives—guilt, shame, hypocrisy, projection, prurient imagination, propaganda, vengeance,
extortion, virtue signaling. It cries out for long-range historical examination. And that examination,
in spite of what is widely thought, provides no guidance for the problems we face today

82 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 17, 2024

About the author

Clyde Norman Wilson is professor of history emeritus from the University of South Carolina. He is a recipient of the Bostick Prize for Contributions to South Carolina Letters and of the first annual Randolph Society Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also the M.E. Bradford distinguished chair of the Abbeville Institute.