How long does it take to read The Slave Community?
John W. Blassingame
The Slave Community by John W. Blassingame takes about 6 hours 22 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 6 hours 22 minutes
A weekend read
First published 1972. 347 pages, about 95,425 words.
13 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 10 hours 36 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 6 hours 22 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 3 hours 59 minutes |
The page count is the median across 7 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
This volume is one of the first historical studies of slavery in the United States to be presented from the perspective of the enslaved. This work contradicted those historians who had interpreted history to suggest that African American slaves were docile and submissive who enjoyed the benefits of a paternalistic master-slave relationship on Southern plantations. Using psychology, the author analyzes fugitive slave narratives published in the 19th century to conclude that an independent culture developed among the enslaved and that there were a variety of personality types exhibited by slaves. He asserts that by concentrating on the slave owner, historians have presented a distorted view of plantation life that "strips the slave of any meaningful and distinctive culture, family life, religion, or manhood." "The plantation was a battlefield where slaves fought masters for physical and psychological survival. Although unlettered, unarmed, and outnumbered, slaves fought in various ways to preserve their manhood." This impressive and original study views the institution of slavery from a new perspective- that of the slaves themselves. The author challenges the timeworn stereotype of the slave as a passive and docile creature who lacked drive, purpose, and responsibility. He traces the development of the slave's personality traits, analyzes the patterns of resistance within the slave community, and proves conclusively that the slave had a rich cultural and family life that was deliberately kept hidden from the eyes of his white masters. Unlike the many accounts that deal with slavery from the outside, this book ventures inside the slave quarters to re-capture the slave's family life, music, religion, and folklore. Using a variety of sources, including the memoirs of former slaves, the author examines the ways that blacks became enslaved, their process of acculturation in the American South, and their deep ties to their African heritage. He shows how the slave was able…
Subjects: Afro-Americans, History, Plantation life, Slavery, Slaves, Social life and customs
