Customer Reviews

A Separate Canaan: The Making of an Afro-Moravian World in North Carolina, 1763-1840

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John F. Sensbach has written an engaging and erudite synthesis of Moravian attitudes toward slavery. The writing style hides Sensbach's grip on the complexities of the literature concerning slavery and racism in the early United States. His use the words and lives of individual Moravian slaves brings to light the voices of those who normally would have been voiceless during the colonial and revolutionary periods. His analysis is not one-sided; he brings to light all the facets of Moravian cultural life and how those religious and social institutions impacted the Moravian debate on the institution of slavery. The Moravians may then be likely viewed as a model for understanding the ambiguity of attitudes toward slaves during the colonial period and early Republic. Sensbach's writing is beautiful and easily conveys a masterful understanding of the period. This is the sort of book that a historian reads not only for information, but for enjoyment as well.