Annotated Bibliography: The Ending of Slavery

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. Boston: The Anti-Slavery Office, 1968.

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This is a primary source written by Fredrick Douglass about the abolition of slavery. The book starts by portraying a picture of how slavery was. He describes it as an animal's life, as he did not even know his real age, as there was no proper documentation of the slave's births. The source also shows how slaves became talented from working with the whites until they started to take over the white's jobs. The purpose of the reference was to narrate the writer's slavery story. It is a useful source, especially in the end chapters, where the writer describes some of the events that led to his freedom. Being a primary source, the source is very crucial to the topic. The source is written from firsthand experience by Douglass. It creates a clear picture of both slavery and how it came to an end. The source is readily available and easy to use, thus an excellent contribution to the topic.

Fogel, Robert William, and Stanley Engerma. Time on the cross: The economics of American Negro slavery. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1995.

The secondary source discusses slavery relation to economics. According to the source, slavery was an investment just like other investments, meant to provide more profits for the involved parties. Slavery was a business that had great profits that compared favorably with profits in the manufacturing industry. The purpose of the book was not only to elaborate its title by explaining the economics related to slavery, but also to get rid of the views that the slaves, especially the Black Americans, had no culture, development, or achievements. The source is handy as it gives some of the economic factors that brought slavery to an end. The book shines light into how slavery as trade started to have lesser profits. The slave owners were not positive about their future prosperity, thus did not buy more slaves compared to previous years. Also, the source explains how it started to dawn that free black laborers were more efficient than slaves in the agricultural fields. The book is written for general readers. Thus, there are no technical jargons, making it easy for reading and understanding.

Filler, Louis. The crusade against slavery: 1830-1860. New York: Routledge, 2017.

The book describes the ending of slavery as a crusade that attracted most Americans with both passion and fury. The book goes ahead to describe anti-slavery crusade like the one crusade that attracted most people in the United States. The purpose of the book is to describe the various stages of how slavery came to an end. The writers of the book divided it into eleven chapters each chapter concentrating on the contribution of a certain topic to the abolition of slavery. The source is useful, as the writer has described information about those who participated in the debate and struggle to end slavery - the heroes, ideals, and martyrs of the antislavery movements. The source is reliable with details of how various entities and participants collectively achieved to end slavery. The source also discusses the various reformist activists that were accompanied by the slavery abolition. It is a source that also discusses the social, political, and economical problems that make the end of slavery a historical event in the United States. The book is written in understandable English for the common reader, thus easily understandable.

Conniff, Michael L., and Thomas J. Davis. Africans in the Americas: a history of the Black diaspora. New York: St. Martin's Press (1994).

This is a commonly cited book in the African American topics, including slavery. The book describes the relationship between the Africans and the Americans since when the first African slave stepped foot in America. The purpose of the book is to describe chronologically from the transatlantic slave trade to the slave abolition movements. The book starts with describing the first African encounter with the Europeans and later how the Africans were enslaved and later emancipated by their captors. The book describes in details the relationship between the Americans and the African Americans during this period. The book is useful, especially in the chapters is discusses the end of the slave trade. The book, however, focuses more on the general mood and relationship during this time. It has been cited by many historians in the various topics regarding the African Americans' history, thus a credible source. It is written in simple, understandable language, though not as much information is useful for this book.

History.com Editors. "Slavery abolished in America." HISTORY. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/slavery-abolished-in-america (accessed January 27, 2019)

This online source discusses the ratification of the 13th amendment, which happened in the year 1865. The amendment abolished slavery in the united states. The source gives details of how the election of Abraham Lincoln, who detested slavery led to the formation of the Confederate States of America. During this time, the civil war erupted, leading to more states willing to abolish the slave trade. As more states agreed to abolish slavery in the country, it became more possible to pass the 13th amendments as there were only a few pro-slavery congressmen left. The president the issued an emancipation proclamation in 1863, making the antislavery union free all slaves. The source is important as it gives the political view and journey of ending slavery in the country.

Bibliography

Conniff, Michael L., and Thomas J. Davis. Africans in the Americas: a history of the Black diaspora. New York: St. Martin's Press (1994).

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. Boston: The Anti-Slavery Office, 1968.

Filler, Louis. The crusade against slavery: 1830-1860. New York: Routledge, 2017.

Fogel, Robert William, and Stanley Engerma. Time on the cross: The economics of American Negro slavery. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1995.

History.com Editors. "Slavery abolished in America." HISTORY. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/slavery-abolished-in-america (accessed January 27, 2019)