In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863

A new edition of a classic work revealing the little-known history of African Americans in New York City before Emancipation.

The popular understanding of the history of slavery in America almost entirely ignores the institution's extensive reach in the North. But the cities of the North were built by--and became the home of--tens of thousands of enslaved African Americans, many of whom would continue to live there as free people after Emancipation.

In the Shadow of Slavery reveals the history of African Americans in the nation's largest metropolis, New York City. Leslie M. Harris draws on travel accounts, autobiographies, newspapers, literature, and organizational records to extend prior studies of racial discrimination. She traces the undeniable impact of African Americans on class distinctions, politics, and community formation by offering vivid portraits of the lives and aspirations of countless black New Yorkers. This new edition includes an afterword by the author addressing subsequent research and the ongoing arguments over how slavery and its legacy should be taught, memorialized, and acknowledged by governments.

Author: Leslie M. Harris
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 11/29/2023
Pages: 400
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.10d
ISBN13: 9780226824871
ISBN10: 022682487X
BISAC Categories:
- History | African American & Black
- Social Science | Sociology | Urban
- History | United States | State & Local | Middle Atlantic (DC, DE, MD,

About the Author

Leslie M. Harris is professor of history at Northwestern University.