Negro in the Making of America: Third Edition Revised, Updated, and Expanded

By Benjamin Arthur Quarles

Book Overview

The bestselling, definitive study of African Americans throughout American history, now with a new introduction by noted scholar V. P. Franklin.

In The Negro in the Making of America, eminent historian Benjamin Quarles provides one of the most comprehensive and readable accounts ever gathered in one volume of the role that African Americans have played in shaping the destiny of America. Starting with the arrival of the slave ships in the early 1600s and moving through the Colonial period, the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, and into the last half of the twentieth century, Quarles chronicles the sweep of events that have brought blacks and their struggle for social and economic equality to the forefront of American life.

Through compelling portraits of central political, historical, and artistic figures such as Nat Turner, Frederick Douglass, Duke Ellington, Malcolm X, and the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Quarles illuminates the African American contributions that have enriched the cultural heritage of America. This classic history also covers black participation in politics, the rise of a black business class, and the forms of discrimination experienced by blacks in housing, employment, and the media.

Quarles's groundbreaking work not only surveys the role of black Americans as they engaged in the dual, simultaneous processes of assimilating into and transforming the culture of their country, but also, in a portrait of the white response to blacks, holds a mirror up to the deeper moral complexion of our nation's history. The restoration of this history holds a redemptive quality--one that can be used, in the author's words, as a "vehicle for present enlightenment, guidance, and enrichment."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684818884
• ISBN13: 9780684818887
• Release Date: February 1996
• Publisher: Touchstone Books
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.87 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Black American History

Benjamin Quarles is a noted historian, who has written several monographs, including THE NEGRO IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, BLACK ABOLITIONISTS,and a biography, FREDERICK DOUBLASS. After retiring, Quarles was the Emeritus Professor of History at Morgan State University. I was fortunate enough to meet him during that time. He continued to come to his office to read, and to meet with anyone, who wanted to talk to him. THE NEGRO IN THE MAKING OF AMERICA was first published in 1964, and has been used in many classrooms since then. This text is also great for anyone, who is looking for an introduction to Black American history. It provides the major themes and events from the West African antecedents to 1986. He covers the major historical eras, including the colonial experience Americanized, slaves and free blacks, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the World War Years, and the Civil Rights Movement and other black social movements. In addition, he covers music, visual arts, television, film, and sports. Moreover, the work highlights social, political and cultural leaders and others, who have had a major impact on the development of the United States. Since it is a text, it is an easier read than most monographs. I highly recommend this work for those, who are wishing to build their library in Black American history

Excellent Reference

Negro in the Making of America would be an essential addition the the library of anyone - African-American or not - who seeks to understand how black Americans have contributed to the development of this country. Quarles includes MANY little known facts about the African-American experience that historians have tended to either diminish or overlook entirely. One of the best aspects of the book is that Quarles does not write in a vacuum - this book can be used as a supplement to a traditional history of the United States. All in all, a fantastic book for anyone who cares to learn about the contributions of a generally marginalized group of Americans.

You'll learn a lot!

I read this book for my African American history class, and I don't think I would have read it if it hadn't been for the class, but I really liked it! I learned a lot that I know I'll take with me for years to come. All the really big important African American leaders are represented here, and all of their portraits are exciting...