Wilma A. Dunaway

Being from the mountains of Appalachia, this book's geographical focus and its relation to slavery is the reason I read it. My hometown is a small coal mining town in a very mountainous part of the Appalachian region. Even though slavery is a popular topic covered in different media (i.e. books, movies, oral histories, etc.), I have never really heard of anyone discussing the use of slaves in my portion of the region. I hoped this book would shed some light on the topic.

The first half of the book was difficult to read. It included a lot of statistical, geographical, industrial, and agricultural information. Though difficult to read, it was necessary in order to provide the reader with as much information about the region as possible. The last part of the book discussed slave life. It was interesting to read of the obstacles and the benefits the mountains provided in the runaway attempts of slaves.

I didn’t really find out anything I didn’t already know (or suspect) about slavery in the mountains of Appalachia. Slaves were mostly used in logging and coal mining. Because of the mountainous terrain, it was difficult to prosper through agricultural crops so slaves were not used as much in the “fields”. This part of the region was (and in some parts still is) poor and whites were often poorer than slaves. The white population was typically landless and worked alongside slaves; often depending on slaves to steal food and bring it to them.

The era of slavery was such a sad and shameful time for our nation. Even though I love the south, I have always hated that slavery was a part of its history. As odd as it sounds, I have a satisfying feeling knowing that my Irish ancestors probably did not own slaves and were thought of as less than slaves.… (mais)