Encyclopedia of the Middle Passage
Toyin Falola, Amanda Warnock
Greenwood Milestones in African American History
Reviews:
More than 80 contributors, a brief chronology, numerous illustrations, and substantial bibliographies support this scholarly treatment of an important topic. This excellent guide will serve high school, public and academic library audiences.
—Lawrence Looks at Books October 2007
Description: For the first time, the Middle Passage, the experience of slaves on the trans-Atlantic ships, receives a full reference treatment in an encyclopedia. This A-to-Z reference consists of 226 signed entries arranged alphabetically, exhaustively covering the Middle Passage from a variety of perspectives for student research and browsing. Each essay entry concludes with suggestions for further reading. The encyclopedia includes an introductory overview of the trans-Atlantic slave trade as well as illustrations, bibliography, and chronology.
As a handy ready-reference, the Encyclopedia of the Middle Passage is the first of its kind. As schools continue to incorporate slavery in their curriculums, the volume will prove to be an essential reference for high school reports and research in History and Social Studies, as well as for college students and general readers. Its subject is of continuing interest, as evidenced by the extraordinary popularity of the film Amistad and the recent HBO special, The Middle Passage. Sample entries: Abolitionism, Asante, Barracoons, Black Sailors, Cargoes, Christianity, Credit and Finance, "Door of No Return," Eric Williams Thesis, Gold Coast, Import Records, Islam and Muslims, Museums, Oral History, Rape and Sexual Abuse, "Seasoning," Suicide, Triangular Trade, William Wilberforce, Women
Author Information:
TOYIN FALOLA is Frances Higginbotham Nalle Centennial Professor in History at the University of Texas, Austin, and a proflific editor and author. Some of his books include Culture and Customs of Nigeria (Greenwood, 2000) and Key Events in African History (Greenwood, 2002).
AMANDA WARNOCK is a graduate student in the History Department at the University of Texas, Austin.
List Price: $75.00 Pages: 464 Publication: 8/30/2007
Book Code: GR3480
ISBN: 0-313-33480-3
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-33480-1
DOI: 10.1336/0313334803
464 pages, figures; map; photos
Greenwood Press
Publication: 8/30/2007
List Price: $75.00 (UK Sterling Price: £41.95)
Media Type: Hardcover
Quelch’s Gold
Piracy, Greed, and Betrayal in Colonial New England
Clifford Beal
Description
In the middle of May in the year 1704, an 80-ton brigantine, the Charles, quietly slipped into the cove at Marblehead, Massachusetts. Her sudden and unexpected reappearance, some ten months after she had left Marblehead under mysterious circumstances, quickly started tongues wagging down at the docks and in the dim, cramped seafront taverns of the town. Over the following three weeks, a drama would be played out involving the crew of the Charles and her commander, John Quelch, and the colonial governments of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. For in the hold of the Charles lay a large quantity of Brazilian sugar, hides, cloth, guns, and gold dust and coin worth over 10,000 sterling -- a huge fortune for the time worth over 1 million today. It was this booty, and the circumstances of the voyage of the Charles, that would rapidly lead to Captain Quelch facing arrest and trial on charges of piracy and murder against the subjects of Queen Anne’s newest ally, the King of Portugal. Occurring only three years after Captain Kidd met his end on the gallows in London, the case of John Quelch has been long overshadowed by his more infamous predecessor but it is no less compelling. Quelch’s ensuing trial, the first admiralty trial ever held outside England, has been called by one historian “the first case of judicial murder in America.”
Author Information:
CLIFFORD BEAL is a defense and security affairs writer and the former Editor of Jane’s Defence Weekly in London. He has written for periodicals including Jane’s, Military History Quarterly, The Sunday Times, Toronto Globe & Mail, Dublin Sunday Business Post, Frontiers, Focus, and The International Herald Tribune.
The Revolutionary War
Series: The Greenwood Press Daily Life Through History Series
Charles P. Neimeyer
Description
Nearly everyone in the U.S. has studied the Revolutionary War. Too often, however, historians of the Revolution focus on the activity of the army without noticing what was taking place inside the army. Making liberal use of diaries and correspondence by the soldiers and their families, Charles P. Neimeyer tells the stories of the men and women who fought for the young country’s independence. Sometimes starting off as rag-tag groups of men shooting off their muskets at geese just for the thrill of the sound, the soldiers became more disciplined and focused. The army recruited a significant number of African American soldiers, who fought side by side with whites. Women also fought and served in the army, either masquerading as male soldiers or providing support for army operations in camp and on the march. Suffering through times of numbing cold and starvation where men boiled their shoes for food, the sheer perseverance of the soldiers in the ranks ultimately won the war for independence.
Author Information:
Charles P. Niemeyer is Executive Director, Regent University, Washington, DC. Previously he was Academic Dean as well as Professor of National Security Affairs at the Naval War College, and Professor of History at the U.S. Naval Academy. He is the author of numerous publications, including America Goes to War: A Social History of the Continental Army, 1775-1783.
Daily Lives of Civilians in Wartime Early America
From the Colonial Era to the Civil War
Series: The Greenwood Press Daily Life Through History Series
David S. Heidler (ed.), Jeanne T. Heidler (ed,)
Description
While soldiers were off fighting on the fields of war, civilians on the home front fought their own daily struggles, sometimes removed from the violence but often enough from deep within the maelstrom of conflict. Chapters provide readers with an excellent, detailed description of how women, children, slaves, and Native Americans coped with privation and looming threat, and how they often used, or tried to use, periods of turmoil to their own advantage. While it is the soldiers who are often remembered for their strength, honor, and courage, it is the civilians who keep life going during wartime. This volume presents the lives of these brave citizens during the early colonial era, the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the Civil War.
Author Information:
DAVID S. HEIDLER is an award-winning historian on the faculty of Colorado State University, Pueblo. He is co-author with Jeanne T. Heidler of Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History; Encyclopedia of the Mexican-American War; Encyclopedia of the War of 1812; Manifest Destiny; The War of 1812; and Old Hickory’s War: Andrew Jackson and the Quest for Empire. Dr. Heidler is also co-editor with Jeanne T. Heidler of the series Daily Lives of Civilians during Wartime and American Soldiers’ Lives.
JEANNE T. HEIDLER is Professor of History at the United States Air Force Academy, and an award-winning author. Along with David S. Heidler she is the co-author of Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History; Encyclopedia of the Mexican-American War; Encyclopedia of the War of 1812; and Old Hickory’s War:Andrew Jackson and the Quest for Empire. Dr. Heidler is also co-editor with David S. Heidler of the series Daily Lives of Civilians during Wartime and American Soldiers’ Lives.
List Price: $65.00 0-313-33526-5 Pages: 280 Publication: 1/30/2007Encyclopedia of Slave Resistance and Rebellion [Two Volumes]
Greenwood Milestones in African American History
Junius P. Rodriguez (ed.)
Description
Slaves fought against their subhuman treatment in a myriad of ways, from passive resistance to armed insurrection. They defined their sense of self and shared humanity through an unquenchable desire to seek freedom from their oppressors. The variety of methods used by slaves to resist the institution that sought to subjugate them indicates the immense fiction that they were lesser creatures animated only by brutish instinct. The many acts of slave resistance and rebellion essentially defined the humanity of the slave. This encyclopedia details how slaves struggled against their bondage, highlights key revolts, and delves into important cultural and religious ideas that nurtured slaves’ hunger for freedom. Though the primary focus is North America, the work’s scope will also include the immensely important slave resistance developments in the Caribbean and South America. Selected studies of slave resistance from classical antiquity will also be considered in this work.
Author Information:
JUNIUS P. RODRIGUEZ is Associate Professor of History at Eureka College. He specializes in African-American history and has done extensive research on slave revolts. He is general editor of the award-winning Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery (1997) and of Chronology of World Slavery (1999). He was also the 1997 recipient of the Helen Cleaver Distinguished Teaching Award.
Encyclopedia of Antislavery and Abolition [Two Volumes]
Greenwood Milestones in African American History
Peter Hinks (ed.), John McKivigan (ed.)R. Owen Williams, Assistant Editor
Description
The emergence of a sophisticated antislavery ideology and the rise of organized opposition to slavery in the Atlantic World in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries represented nothing less than one of the great intellectual and social revolutions in the history of the world. An institution which by the early eighteenth century was near axiomatically accepted as necessary, useful, and thoroughly in accord with Judaeo-Christian tenets and virtues and which profoundly informed the lives of millions of people had by the mid-nineteenth century come increasingly to be viewed as the chief vector of evil and the Devil in the world, the very quintessence of evil as some called it, and the chief repository of all that was socially, politically, and especially economically archaic and stagnant. This encyclopedia is organized around three principal concerns: the illustration and explication of the various forms of antislavery and its emergence as an organized movement; the immediate precipitants of abolition and the processes of its passage; and the enactment of emancipation and its consequences. While the earliest expressions of antislavery may have only comprised one or a few isolated voices, the antislavery most commonly reviewed here is that animated by a systematic and ardent opposition to slavery and intended to mobilize large numbers of people to attack and end the institution. A wide variety of people and organizations nurtured and extended this antislavery: religious figures, political economists, slaves, sailors, artisans, missionaries, planters, captains of slave ships, democratic enthusiasts, and others were all involved along with the various organizations-secular, religious, or otherwise-with which they were associated. Antislavery was by no means exclusively or even principally the work of an intellectual elite and the force of all, from the lowly and unlearned to the privileged and prominent, is represented. The presence of slavery continued to be attacked in the contracting Ottoman Empire in the early twentieth century, in Liberia in the 1930s, in Saudi Arabia in the mid-twentieth century, and even in the latter years of the century in countries like Sudan, Pakistan, India, and others in Southeast Asia.
Blue Water Patriots
The American Revolution Afloat
James M. Volo
Description
In 1775, it was inconceivable that the American colonists could have overcome the overwhelming military superiority of Great Britain. Yet the belligerent colonists seemed certain that they could defeat the British army they so despised. On the other hand, the one great fear shared by all colonists was that they would not be able to overcome the presence of the Royal Navy. Yet, somehow, the colonists were able to resist the British at sea, attract capable allies to aid them, and successfully conclude their quest for independence. The American Revolution can safely be viewed as part of a prolonged worldwide naval conflict between France and Britain beginning with the Glorious Revolution in 1688 and ending with the British victory at Trafalgar in 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars. This was a period in which the armed merchantmen of the age of trade were replaced by genuine warships whose task was to control the sea lanes. The American Revolution was a watershed in this regard with improved warship designs, new technologies, improved gunpowder and communications, and innovative tactics. Although French participation in the war for independence was crucial, the primary focus of this work is the period before 1779, when the colonists confronted the Royal Navy alone with only their ingenuity and courage to defend them.
Every school child knows that the American Revolution began on Lexington Green in April, 1775, but how many are aware that in 1764 a Royal Navy cutter, St. John, engaged in the suppression of smuggling, was fired upon by Rhode Islanders; that in 1769, the revenue sloop Liberty was seized and burned by the people of Newport; or that in 1772, the navy cutter Gaspee was burned in the night by armed patriots attacking from small boats. It was these Blue Water Patriots who fought the first battles on the road to American independence, and this is their story.
Author Information:
DR. JAMES M. VOLO is a teacher, lecturer, and historian. He has served as a consultant for documentary television and movie projects dealing with the American Revolution and the Civil War. He is the author or co-author of more than a half-dozen historical reference works dealing with American history. He is co-author of Daily Life in Civil War America (Greenwood, 1998), Daily Life during the American Revolution (Greenwood, 2003), and Daily Life during the Old Colonial Frontier (Greenwood, 2002).
America’s Founding Charters [Three Volumes]
Primary Documents of Colonial and Revolutionary Era Governance
Jon L. Wakelyn (ed.)
Description
What documents enforced English control over its colonies? Who used pamphlets to voice protest and stir up political resistance? How did colonial settlers envision their future governing structures? This extensive work provides and in-depth look at 260 major documents that shaped the structure, form, and function of the political system in colonial and revoltionary America.
Author Information:
JON L. WAKELYN is Professor Emeritus of History at Kent State University. He is the author or editor of eleven books, including The Politics of Literary Man, Southern Pamphlets on Secession, Leaders of the American Civil War, Southern and Unionist Pamphlets of the Civil War, Confederates against the Confederacy, and Birth of the Bill of Rights: Encyclopedia of the Antifederalists.
In Pursuit of Liberty
Coming of Age in the American Revolution
Emmy E. Werner
Description
The voices of the children and teenagers who witnessed the events that transformed the colonies to an independent nation have seldom been heard in historical accounts of the American Revolution. This book tells the story of the “forgotten” youngsters who engaged in the boycott of British goods and the battles that led up to the Declaration of Independence; the story of their courageous exploits in eight years of warfare on land and sea, and the story of the social forces that shaped and transformed their post-war lives. The Revolution challenged the notions of patriarchal authority. It introduced serious risks and disruptions in the lives of the young, but it also gave them an unprecedented degree of autonomy and a sense of responsibility that allowed them to seize the opportunities that they gained with their independence.
Endorsement From Peter N. Stearns Provost, George Mason University
This is a really interesting contribution to the history of children, showing individual young people as active agents, of various sorts, during the American Revolution. Children were also acted upon during the Revolution, and this testimony is revealing as well; but the extent of active involvement, and the sources this involvement generated, provide the most telling analysis.
Endorsement From Glen H. Elder Jr. Howard W. Odum Distinguished Professor of Sociology University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
In this book, Emmy Werner, a lifelong student of human resilience, tells a remarkable story of the Revolutionary War from a much-neglected perspective--that of young children and youth from the colonies. Most enlistees in the American army were aged 15 or younger; some were even as young as eight years! With biographical documents on 100 young Americans and a small number of young Hessians, Werner writes about their extraordinary experiences during this eight-year war, often revealing acts of great courage in overcoming adversity. Where possible, she also explores the longer term impact of the war on their lives in what Seymour Martin Lipsit describes as “the first new nation.” This memorable book will alter views of the Revolutionary War by highlighting the many contributions of “boy soldiers” to winning America’s independence.
Author Information:
EMMY E. WERNER is the author of A Conspiracy of Decency: The Rescue of Danish Jews during World War II (2002); Through the Eyes of Innocents: Children Witness World War II (2000); and Reluctant Witnesses: Childrens’ Voices from the Civil War (1998).
Cooking in America, 1590-1840
Series: The Greenwood Press Daily Life Through History Series
Trudy Eden
Description
There are no recipes for what the Indians ate in Colonial times, but this cookbook uses period quotations to detail what and how the foodstuffs were prepared. The bulk of the cookbook is devoted to what the European immigrants cooked and what evolved into American cooking. The first colonists from England brought their foodways to America. The basic foods that Americans of European descent ate changed very little from 1600 to 1840. While the major basic foods remained the same, their part in the total diet changed. Americans at the end of the period ate far more beef and chicken than did the first colonists. They used more milk, butter and cream. They also ate more wheat in the form of breads, cakes, cookies, crackers and cereals. The same was true with fruits. Over time the more exotic vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, artichokes, and numerous root vegetables including both sweet and white potatoes became common vegetables. By the end of this period, many Americans were even eating foods like tomatoes, okra, and sesame, which were unknown to their ancestors. In addition, Americans, like their relatives in Europe, incorporated coffee, tea, and chocolate into their diets as well as more sugar. Along with them came new customs, such as tea time, and, for men, socializing at coffeehouses. Also, distilled beverages, particularly rum, which was often made into a punch with citrus juices, were increasingly used.
Author Information:
TRUDY EDEN is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls.
Shapers of the Great Debate at the Constitutional Convention of 1787
A Biographical Dictionary
Series: Shapers of the Great American Debates
Joseph C. Morton
Description
As the oldest still operational written constitution in the world, the U.S. Constitution and the concepts it proclaims have been under almost constant attack since its inception. At a convention in 1787, fifty-five delegates assembled in Philadelphia to revise and amend the Articles of Confederation, only to emerge sixteen weeks later with a new document: the U.S. Constitution. The convention was filled with constant debate over how much power should be given to government and how should this power be allocated, state rights v. nationalists, small states v. large states, political conservatives v. political liberals, and slave-owners v. non-slave-owners. Fifty-five biographies, one for each delegate, are presented. Biographies include such notable individuals as Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, Luther Martin, and James Madison. An introductory essay, appendices including the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution, and an annotated bibliography are also included.
Reviews:
-Over the course of 16 weeks, delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 revised and amended the Articles of Confederation in order to create the new U.S. Constitution. This alphabetically arranged volume presents concise biographies of the Convention's 55 delegates. Each entry describes an individual's participation in the deliberations, with an emphasis on his position in the Great Debate between proportional versus equal representation for states in the legislature. —Reference & Research Book News
Author Information:
JOSEPH C. MORTON is Professor Emeritus, Department of History, at Northwestern Illinois University in Chicago. He is the author of The American Revolution, a volume in the Greenwood Guides to Historic Events of 1500-1900 (Greenwood, 2003).
List Price: $75.00 0-313-33021-2 Pages: 388 Publication: 12/30/2005
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Poets and Poetry [Five Volumes]
Jeffrey Gray , James McCorkle , Mary McAleer Balkun
Description
The most comprehensive reference on American poetry ever assembled, this enormous encyclopedia includes more than 900 alphabetically arranged entries by roughly 350 scholars. Other references on poetry typically cover a particular period, or survey a limited range of authors, or they do not cover poets, and works, and techniques. This encyclopedia surpasses existing works by considering the entire range of American poetry, overviewing major and minor authors, and combining biographical and critical entries with entries on a wide range of topics. Written for students and general readers at a time when poetry is central to the curriculum, the set covers material from the colonial era to the present, devoting special attention to contemporary poets and their works. Multicultural in scope, the encyclopedia provides entries on numerous poets from diverse ethnic backgrounds. It also devotes considerable attention to women poets and to poets who are just beginning to establish their reputations. In addition, it relates American poetry to its social, historical, political, and cultural contexts.
Author Information:
JEFFREY GRAY is Associate Professor of English at Seton Hall University and author of Mastery's End: Travel and Postwar American Poetry. His articles and poetry have appeared in such journals as Atlantic Monthly, Callaloo, Contemporary Literature, Profession, and Papers on Language and Literature.
JAMES McCORKLE is a poet and essayist. His previous books include The Still Performance (1989), Conversant Essays (1990), Evidences (2003). His work has appeared in such places as The Kenyon Review, The New England Review, and Ploughshares. He has taught at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Keuka College, New York University, and Pratt Institute.
MARY McALEER BALKUN is Associate Professor of English at Seton Hall University. She has published in such journals as Walt Whitman Quarterly, Women's Studies, and African American Review, and is the author of the forthcoming The American Counterfeit: Authenticity and Identity in American Literature and Culture.List Price: $599.95 0-313-32381-X Pages: 2012 Publication: 12/30/2005
October 24, 2007