Slavery

Stanley Engerman, one of the authors of a deeply researched book that, wading into the fraught history of American slavery, argued that it was a rational, viable economic system and that enslaved Black people were more efficient workers than free white people in the North, died on May 11 in Watertown, Mass. He was 87. His son David said the cause was myelodysplastic syndrome, a rare form of blood and bone marrow cancer. In their two-volume “Time on the Cross: The Economics of American Negro Slavery” (1974), Professor Engerman and Professor Robert W. Fogel used data analysis to challenge what they called common characterizations of slavery, including that it was unprofitable, inefficient and pervasively abusive. They said they were not defending slavery. “If any aspect of the American past evokes a sense of shame,” they wrote, it’s the system of slavery.” But much of the accepted wisdom about it, they said, was distorted, or just plain wrong. “Slave agriculture was not … [Read more...] about Stanley Engerman, Revisionist Scholar of Slavery, Dies at 87

See the article in its original context from October 28, 1974 Buy Reprints View on timesmachine TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. ROCHESTER, Oct. 26—Many of the country's leading experts on slavery met here this week to confront a pair of economists who have brazenly invaded their territory with computers and formulas to suggest that blacks thrived under slavery in the South. The two scholars, Robert W. Fogel and Stanley L. Engernan of the University of Rochester, are the authors of “Time on the Cross,” an iconoclastic book … [Read more...] about 1100 Scholars Gather to Debate Two Economists New Book on Slavery in U.S.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — “Can we forget the crack of the whip, cowhide, whipping-post, the auction-block, the hand-cuffs, the spaniels, the iron collar, the negro-trader tearing the young child from its mother’s breast as a whelp from the lioness? Have we forgotten that by these horrible cruelties, hundreds of our race have been killed? No, we have not, or ever will.” So wrote Isabella Gibbons, a formerly enslaved Black woman, two years after the end of the Civil War. She was writing here in Charlottesville, where, in the 1840s, she had worked as a cook at the University of Virginia, on a campus designed by Thomas Jefferson, third United States president, shaper of the Declaration of Independence, author of the words “all men are created equal,” and lifelong enslaver. Gibbons, who was owned by a university faculty member, a science professor, remained in Charlottesville after Emancipation. By the time she wrote, in 1867, she was a teacher in a Black primary school. She may well have … [Read more...] about Turning Grief for a Hidden Past Into a Healing Space

Democratic lawmakers introduced a resolution Wednesday requesting the federal government pay black Americans for centuries of racial discrimination, NPR reported. Democratic Missouri Rep. Cori Bush announced the resolution, which calls for the government to give $14 trillion to black Americans, for the purpose of closing the racial wealth gap, among other things, the outlet noted . Rep. Cori Bush Pushes For $14 Trillion In Reparations https://t.co/XA5xLPF1GK pic.twitter.com/FfzkqfY091 — The Root (@TheRoot) May 17, 2023 Bush announced the resolution at a press conference flanked by fellow “squad” members, including Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Democratic New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman. Democratic California Rep. Barbara Lee also attended. (RELATED: WALTERS: Reparations Are Un-American And Unnecessary For Black People To Succeed Again In America) “Black people in our country cannot wait any longer for our government to begin addressing … all of … [Read more...] about ‘Squad’ Dem Member Introduces Resolution Requesting $14 Trillion In Black Reparations

0 Schools From 2000 to last year, at least 320 homeschooled children were severely neglected and abused Don Johnson , Patch Staff Posted | Updated Reply In 2016, 16-year-old Natalie Finn's mother locked her, a 15-year-old brother and a 14-year-old sister in their bedroom for months, food and water all but cut off. One of the kids who survived, barely, later said their bedroom slowly filled with their own waste because their mother often would not let them out even to use the bathroom. When they did get permission, they were so desperately thirsty they sometimes scooped water into their mouths from the toilet bowl. Natalie Finn died from starvation on Oct. 24, 2016. These damaged children from West Des Moines, Iowa were not alone. There are scores of cases like this one involving starving kids to death. Other cases document children who have been beaten by parents most of their young lives or have otherwise been treated so … [Read more...] about Hidden Torture: Homeschool Laws Can Shield Abusive Parents

close Video Fox News Flash top sports headlines for May 21 Fox News Flash top sports headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Glenn Schembechler apologized Monday for his social media activity which led to him resigning from Michigan as the team’s assistant director of football recruiting after only a few days on the job. According to multiple reports, Schembechler’s Twitter account f eatured several questionable "likes," including the suggestions that slavery and Jim Crow laws had a positive effect on Black people. He addressed the "likes" in his statement. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM A Michigan Wolverines player holds his helmet with stickers on the back during the Big 10 Championship game between the Michigan Wolverines and Iowa Hawkeyes on Dec. 4, 2021, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. (Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) "My entire life and … [Read more...] about Son of longtime Michigan coach apologizes over controversial Twitter ‘likes’