In Hope of Liberty

The lives of the first free blacks in America are vividly described in In Hope of Liberty, spanning the 200 years and eight generations from the colonial slave trade through the American Revolution to, finally, the Civil War. In this marvelously peopled history, James and Lois Horton introduce us to a rich cast of characters. There are familiar historical figures such as Crispus Attucks, a leader of the Boston Massacre and one of the first casualties of the American Revolution, Sojourner Truth, the eloquent antislavery and women's rights activist whose own family had been separated at a slave auction block, and Prince Whipple, George Washington's aide, easily recognizable in the portrait of Washington crossing the Delaware River. In Hope of Liberty brilliantly illuminates the free black community of the antebellum North as it struggled to assimilate while maintaining a unique cultural identity, and to work for social action in an atmosphere of racial injustice. As the black community today still struggles with many of the same problems, this insightful history reminds us how far we have come, and how far we have yet to go.