Bibliography of slavery in the United States

This bibliography of slavery in the United States is a guide to books documenting the history of slavery in the U.S., from its colonial origins in the 17th century through the adoption of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which officially abolished the practice in 1865. In addition, links are provided to related bibliographies and articles elsewhere in Wikipedia.

Histories[edit]

Inspection of an African man being sold into slavery.[1]

Regions[edit]

The North[edit]

The South[edit]

Historical eras[edit]

Colonial Era: 16th century—1776[edit]

Revolutionary Era: 1776—early 19th century[edit]

Civil War Era: 1850s—1870s[edit]

Reconstruction/Jim Crow Eras: 1870s—1965[edit]

Biographies[edit]

David W. Blight's 2018 biography of abolitionist Frederick Douglass won the Pulitzer Prize for History.[20]

Essay collections[edit]

The following collections explore either related topics or a range of issues tied to slavery. Many of the essays are by leading scholars on the subject.

Encyclopedias[edit]

Topics[edit]

Abolition/anti-slavery[edit]

Proslavery arguments held that blacks were incapable of caring for themselves.[26]

Agriculture/plantations[edit]

Constitution/law[edit]

Economics/capitalism[edit]

Emancipation/freedom[edit]

Government/politics[edit]

Material culture[edit]

  • Katz-Hyman, Martha B.; Rice, Kym S., eds. (2010). World of a Slave: Encyclopedia of the Material Life of Slaves in the United States. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-313-34942-3.
  • McGill, Joseph Jr.; Frazier, Herb (2023). Sleeping with the Ancestors: How I Followed the Footprints of Slavery. New York: Hachette Books. ISBN 9780306829666.
  • Vlach, John Michael (1991). By the Work of Their Hands: Studies in Afro-American Folklife. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia. ISBN 978-0-8139-1366-7.

Native Americans[edit]

Proslavery[edit]

Race/racism[edit]