The hottest Slavery Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top U.S. Politics Topics

Slavery was bad

Slow Boring • 7095 implied HN points • 25 Oct 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics History Economics Slavery Political Discourse Capitalism
  1. Slaveowners among America's founding fathers knew slavery was bad, but still profited from it.
  2. In the early 19th century, the South shifted to viewing slavery as a 'positive good,' leading to political divides and eventually the Civil War.
  3. A new paper by economic historians argues that the costs of slavery far outweighed the benefits, likening enslavement to theft.

Birds and Slavery

Bird History • 79 implied HN points • 28 Mar 24
💾 History Slavery Ornithology Freedom
  1. Birds played a significant role in the lives of enslaved men and women, representing forced labor but also providing opportunities for food, freedom, and sometimes even companionship.
  2. Slaves often engaged in hunting birds to feed the plantation, showcasing exceptional skills to provide food for the masters, while being deprived of the best game themselves.
  3. Enslaved Africans developed their own ornithology, understanding and relating to birds in unique ways that went beyond mere exploitation, showcasing a complex relationship with the natural world.

What Florida Is (and Isn't) Teaching Students about Slavery

Glenn Loury • 3518 implied HN points • 06 Aug 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Education Slavery Criticism History Racism
  1. The Florida Board of Education's guidelines for teaching African American history include lessons on the Underground Railroad, slave rebellions, and the harsh realities of chattel slavery.
  2. The controversy on the Florida curriculum involves a debate between emphasizing victimization or acknowledging the agency of enslaved individuals.
  3. Some researchers argue that recognizing the agency of enslaved blacks does not downplay the inhumane aspects of slavery and can provide a more nuanced understanding of their experiences.
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Battle Cry of Freedom

Pitchfork Papers • 294 implied HN points • 02 Feb 24
💾 History Constitution Slavery Federal Government
  1. The American Civil War saw both sides claiming to fight for freedom, but with conflicting interpretations and motivations.
  2. The Confederacy justified their fight for freedom while supporting slavery, relying on selective readings of historical documents.
  3. The Union, while fighting against slavery, also had inconsistencies in how they interpreted constitutional rights and the power of individual states.

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day • 314 implied HN points • 24 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Civil War Slavery Democracy Congress
  1. The Civil War was a costly conflict that shocked the nation and prompted urgency to end it
  2. Abraham Lincoln pushed for bold action to save American democracy by addressing slavery through constitutional amendments
  3. The survival of American democracy hinged on the decisions made by Congress and the Administration during a tumultuous time

Imperial shuffle

A User's Guide to History • 216 implied HN points • 11 Jan 24
💾 History American Revolution Migration Colonization Slavery Wars
  1. Historians of Canada include American Loyalists in their story, as it significantly impacted the country's history
  2. Resettling American Loyalists in Canada doubled the country's population and altered the balance of French and British influence
  3. Black Loyalists faced challenges in Canada, leading to tensions and eventual migration to other regions like Sierra Leone and the British West Indies

When Slavery Came Home

Non-Boring History • 550 implied HN points • 20 Jun 23
💾 History Slavery Future
  1. The post discusses facing difficult truths from the past to create a better future.
  2. It mentions the dark secrets of a historical place in rural Cheshire, near Manchester, England.
  3. Readers can access more content and archives by subscribing for a 7-day free trial.

The Domus Mindset

Pacification • 255 implied HN points • 06 Apr 23
💾 History Civilization Society Agriculture Slavery Religion
  1. Early settled agricultural societies may have taken the form of prison camps, with enslaved people and rulers extracting wealth.
  2. Hunter-gatherer societies had better food, health, and likely less compulsion and slavery than early civilizations founded on forced agriculture.
  3. The domus mindset, rooted in lordship and obedience, continues to shape societies, stories, and concepts of freedom today, even in modern urban contexts.

The first literary "race warrior"

WORLD GONE WRONG • 98 implied HN points • 28 Jul 23
📚 Literature Racism Dystopia Fiction Slavery Genre
  1. Mary Howard Schoolcraft was a notable figure for being the first literary 'race warrior' with her novel 'The Black Gauntlet'.
  2. Anti-Toms were pro-slavery novels that countered 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' and were popular during that era.
  3. Schoolcraft's novel was characterized by obsessively racist themes and was a pioneering work in the genre of 'race war' dystopia.

What to Us Now Is the Fourth of July?

Journal of Free Black Thought • 48 implied HN points • 04 Jul 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics History Slavery American Revolution
  1. America's history includes both oppression and the struggle against it, like the anti-slavery movement.
  2. Revolutionary ideals of liberty and equality were pivotal in the fight against slavery in America.
  3. The Founders' hypocrisy in not immediately abolishing slavery does not erase the importance of their ideals that eventually led to the destruction of slavery.