New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in Eighteenth Century Manhattan

New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in Eighteenth Century Manhattan

About:

In New York Burning, Bancroft Prize-winning historian Jill Lepore recounts these dramatic events of 1741, when ten fires blazed across Manhattan and panicked whites suspecting it to be the work of a slave uprising went on a rampage. In the end, thirteen black men were burned at the stake, seventeen were hanged and more than one hundred black men and women were thrown into a dungeon beneath City Hall.
Even back in the seventeenth century, the city was a rich mosaic of cultures, communities and colors, with slaves making up a full one-fifth of the population. Exploring the political and social climate of the times, Lepore dramatically shows how, in a city rife with state intrigue and terror, the threat of black rebellion united the white political pluralities in a frenzy of racial fear and violence.

Alayne's Thoughts:

I recently had the pleasure of taking a boat around Manhattan and it was a lovely day to see NYC from a very different perspective. Another book by Queen Jill Lepore, she again brings to light a dark time in our country. Tell me if this doesn't grab your attention.