Black Slaveowners: Free Black Slave Masters in South Carolina, 1790-1860 (Paperback)

by Larry Koger (Author) "When the book Black Slaveowners was published in December 1984, the literature on Afro-American slaveowners was sparse..." (more)
Key Phrases: facto free blacks, colored slaveowners, many black masters, Charleston City, South Carolina, Denmark Vesey (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
The subject is unique: free black slave masters in South Carolina from 1790-1860 are revealed in a study which tells how Afro-Americans played slave master roles in South Carolina. Free blacks embraced slavery as a viable economic system: census figures, tax returns, and newspaper ads contribute to details on how Afro-American masters participated in the caste system. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Description
Were black masters different from white? An analysis of all aspects and particularly of the commercialism of black slaveowning debunks the myth that black slaveholding was a benevolent institution based on kinship, and explains the transition of black masters from slavery to paid labor. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: University of South Carolina Press (March 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570030375
• ISBN-13: 978-1570030376
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #723,588 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not exactly PC history, April 24, 2005

By	Andre M. "brnn64" (Mt. Pleasant, SC United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Personally, I found this book fascinating. This is a very uncomfortable subject for African-Americans and sympathetic whites, but it is a story that needs to be told. Admittedly, Larry Koger is heavy on graphs and the census, but it is important to show just who was involved in this business. Whenever an historian deals with subject matter as controversial as this, you need as much documentation as you can to prove your point.

Basically, the book shows slavery in its complexity that is often missing from books in films that are either by the political left OR right wing. We learn of William Ellison, a free black who eventually owned 63 slaves in Sumter County in 1860, whose sons actually tried to join the Confederatre Army! (they were rejected, for VERY obvious reasons)!

There is also the tale of the traitor Peter Desverneys, infamous to us black history fans as the "man" who "spilled the beans" on the Denmark Vesey slave rebellion. We learn that Peter was not only freed for life after this, but bought and sold slaves of his own afterwards!

I could go on and on, but read the book and see for yourself. As A Black South Carolinian, I grew up hearing a number of African-Americans claim that some of their ancestors were actually slave owners (why they would brag about this could form another book about indentification with one's oppressors, but that's another story). In either case, it's a story you are not likely to hear about on a widespread basis, but it is important in understanding the length of the tragedy and delusion caused by the transatlantic slave trade.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very mechanically written, but worth a look!, March 24, 2001

By	Suzann "Suzann" (Oskaloosa, IA United States) - See all my reviews

This subject is an important one to explore, but there must be a more interesting way to do it. The book is primarily a quantitative study that must have been the author's master's thesis. Names are transcribed from census records, and the difficulties in quantifying black slaveowners is explored. However, the author does nothing to take the reader beyond documented fact. Readers looking for a poignant journey should look elsewhere.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A side of slavery all should know, December 16, 2008

By	Leah Olson (Aiken, SC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Most people believe that slave owners were white, rich, and evil. This book shows that lots of blacks were slave owners and they didn't have to be rich in order to own slaves. The book also proved that blacks didn't just own their family members in order to gain their freedom. Free Blacks owned slaves in order to further their own economic status because that was system of their day. A fascinating and insightful book which gave the other side of slavery. Well researched but at times repetitive.