American Slavery Peter Kolchin Analysis

The issue of slavery is possibly one of the most debated eras in American history. American Slavery, 1619 - 1877 by Peter Kolchin is an overview of slavery from the colonial times through emancipation as well as the aftermath. There is a specific focus on the Antebellum Period, the time between the forming of the Union and the Civil War. In the Preface, Kolchin gives four main goals of his study that will distinguish it from those of previous scholars. Firstly, he wanted to use new interpretations and facts while also implementing a majority of historiographical information. Second, he aims to create a view of slavery that encompasses the perspective of the slaves, slave masters, and the system of slavery as a whole. His third goal was …show more content…
The colonial time period lasts until about 1770 and the antebellum picks up from there and continues until around 1800. During the colonial era, America became a leading slave society. Kolchin implies that this is because of constantly growing agriculture business and the need for more workers. As time went on, slaves began to reproduce, creating a population of American-born slaves. Kolchin states, “many slave owners came to take greater interest in the lives (and general welfare) of the American-born slaves,” they appeared much less “savage” than those arriving from Africa (50). He is also able to clearly distinguish the colonial period form the antebellum period. He claims the exponential growth in the slave population after the war for independence began the antebellum period. Kolchin also says that slaves began to develop skills and traits of their white owners over time. He quotes Ulrich B. Phillips stating, “the planters had a saying…that a negro was what a white man made him” …show more content…
Those four goals being; a combination of new interpretations with historiographical information, a balanced approach encompassing all those involved, an adaptive image of the institution, and a comparative analysis. He strived to meet these four goals and successfully completed each task. Kolchin did an amazing job at providing a work that illustrates American slavery and America’s attempt to “finally overcome the persistent legacy of slavery” (237). American Slavery provides an abundant amount of information through other historians and primary sources that give detail to the time period and institution of slavery. While there was little information on the exact origins of slavery, Kolchin went into great detail on slavery beginning in the seventeenth