They Were White and They Were Slaves: The Untold History of the Enslavement of Whites in Early America [Paperback]

Michael A. Hoffman II (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Independent History; 4 edition (June 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0929903056
• ISBN-13: 978-0929903057
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #460,896 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

126 of 134 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much needed book in today's slavery debate, January 4, 2003

By 

zonaras (Jimbo's House of Pie) - See all my reviews

This review is from: They Were White and They Were Slaves: The Untold History of the Enslavement of Whites in Early America (Paperback)

As other reviewers have noted, this book is a barrage of facts that are a little rambling and disorganized, but this in NO WAY takes away from the interest of the subject matter that is presented in this volume.

Mr. Hoffman presents a rough outline of the history of the enslavement of whites in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, the Carribean and finally in America from Roman times to the begining of the 20th century. Documented are such details as:

-Slavery in ancient Greece and attitudes towards slaves there
-Arab traffic in white slave to the Middle East
-The Vikings' massive involvement in the slave trade during the middle ages
-White slavery and ethnic-cleansing in Ireland and Barbados under Oliver Cromwell
-Kidnapping of whites in Britain to bring to the Americas
-Child labor and gross working conditions in the mines and factories in America and Britain during the industrial revoloution.
-One of the most disturbing events documented here: the use of "human brooms" as chimney sweeps in England during the 1800's. These might be able to claim the worst status. The orphans who had to climb up chimneys filled with toxic dirt and soot weren't even paid to do so, they were forced to do that work and then BEG for a living.
-White slavery and white slave trade in colonial America. These whites were treated as more expendable then the African slaves because the slave ships had to go out of their way to pick up Africans.
-"Redneck," because whites had to work out in the fields in the sun so their skin would get tanned and burned.
-"Hillbilly," because when they were freed or escaped, the slaves had nowhere to live except in remote places in the backwoods and especially APPALACIA.
-The race politics presented here explain and elucidate the animostiy between blacks, lower class whites and the white slave-and-plantation owning aristocracy in the South.
-This one's the kicker: the word SLAVE actually comes from SLAV, the white peoples of Eastern Europe who were often raided and held in bondage by invaders.

This book is well worth getting a hand on and reading, because it proves that slavery is a universal condition that has been practiced against all races and nations of people, even against those traditionally portrayed (i.e. Anglo Saxons/whites) as being the slavemasters and oppressors.

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a book of great historical information, to genealogists, November 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: They Were White and They Were Slaves: The Untold History of the Enslavement of Whites in Early America (Paperback)

I purchased this book, with great reluctance, as I thought it might be "racist" in nature. However, I found it most enlighting. It reveals, that slavery was never about race, but rather about labor. Labor was looked upon as a commodity to be bought and sold. My interest was from a genealogical and historical point. It alowed me to locate lines of my family both white, Irish and English that were sold on the auction block, in Barbados in the 1600's, along with other slaves who were black. It will further give great insight in the abusive child labor of 1800 England. For any and all it is a great read.

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another "don't read this", May 6, 2005

By 

Historian (Arlington Heights, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: They Were White and They Were Slaves: The Untold History of the Enslavement of Whites in Early America (Paperback)

Not particularly well-written but the effort, the research and the stones to put it out there rate 5 stars. Modern Americans believe slavery to be an American sin and only a Southern sin at that. Well, The Negro in New England by Greene challnges that on the back end but the scope and sweep of slavery goes far beyond the development of the Western Hemisphere. It is a human scourge which is not only ancient but contemporary.It has impacted all times and all races.
What this volume trys to accomplish is to assemble facts and records to explain a story yet untold...white slavery. Was a slave less a slave because they were white or because it will send someone into roid rages if we even bring it up? "Indentured servitude" was NOT some enlighted apprenticeship program whereby people were redeemed, freed and released with land, tools, skills and a wide open future. A few of the more shocking facts:
* The "Slavs" of eastern Europe were thus named for the millinium of slavery they were subjected to by every conqueror that swept through the region; Celts, Greeks, Roman, Barbarians.
* Death rates on the Atlantic passage of white slaves exceeded that of African slaves
* The reason that only 6% of the African slaves brought to the Western Hemisphere ended up in what became the US is because there were enough white slaves to supply demand.
* The very word "kidnapping" has its roots in the colonial period when British children were stolen ("kidnabbed") and sent to the New World
Round out your understanding of this underplayed and ignored historical development by reading "Bound Over" by John Van Der Zee.(also VERY hard to find)
An excellent book remains to be written by someone who can write well and using some of the sources mentioned here. If we could see the full historical scope of slavery much of the modern vitriol and victimology could be set aside. Perhaps we could even focus on the real tragedy....25 million people are STILL in slavery today.