Inheriting the Trade

Description

Thomas Norman DeWolfInheriting the Trade: A Northern Family Confronts Its Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading Dynasty in U.S. HistoryA trailblazing memoir about one family’s quest to face its slave-trading past, and an urgent call for reconciliationIn 2001, at age forty-seven, Thomas DeWolf was horrified to discover that he was related to the most successful slave-trading family in United States history, responsible for transporting at least 10,000 Africans. His most infamous ancestor, U.S. senator James DeWolf of Bristol, Rhode Island, curried favor with Thomas Jefferson to continue in the trade after it was outlawed. He died the second-richest man in America in 1837.When Thomas DeWolf’s cousin Katrina Browne learned about their family’s history, she was wracked with guilt. However, unlike others who might ignore their sordid legacy, she resolved to confront it head-on. Browne produced and directed a documentary feature film, Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North, in which she, Thomas, and eight other family members retraced the steps of their ancestors. Inheriting the Trade is Thomas DeWolf’s powerful memoir of their journey.Their extraordinary voyage through the notorious triangle trade route — from New England to West Africa to Cuba — proved a life-altering experience. Though DeWolf had never reflected on the trade before, he now faced the horrors of slavery in a direct and unmitigated way, forced to contend with the complicated legacy that continues to impact black and white Americans, Africans, and Cubans today.

Description

"In 2001, Thomas DeWolf discovered that he was related to the most successful slave-trading family in U.S. history, responsible for transporting at least ten thousand Africans. This is his memoir of the journey in which ten family members retraced their ancestors' steps through the notorious triange trade route -- from New England to West Africa to Cuba -- and uncovered the hidden history of New England and the other northern states."--Cover.

Subjects

Other Editions

• Inheriting the Trade: A Northern Family Confronts Its Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading Dynasty in U.S. HistoryHardcoverBeacon Press2008-01-02
• Inheriting the TradeeBookBeacon Press2008-01-01
• Inheriting the TradeAudio CDBrilliance Audio on MP3-CD2008-01-02
• Inheriting the TradeAudio CDBrilliance Audio on MP3-CD Lib Ed2008-01-02
• Inheriting the TradeAudio CDBrilliance Audio on CD Unabridged2008-01-02
• Inheriting the TradeAudio CDBrilliance Audio on CD Unabridged Lib Ed2008-01-02