It contains a lot of information but isn’t formatted as an encyclopedia so it’s very easy to read. It spends little time on the contributions of females and actually downplays their prominence in various campaigns such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The usual big names from that time period are profiled along with some lesser-known activists.Īs with much of history, the book mostly focuses on the achievements and contributions of males. If he’d written a book along the lines of how he wrote this chapter, it would have been incredible.Īs is to be expected, there’s quite a bit of time spent on Reconstruction through the Civil Rights Movement.

Not to get too far off track but I really wish that Bennett had expanded this chapter and wrote a separate book on the history of Haiti.

It also had an indirect impact on American society because it struck fear in American slave owners and inspired slave revolts. The Haitian Revolution is included because it resulted in many slaveholders, farmers, regular people etc fleeing to America. It The time spent on setting the scene for leading up to the uprising was amazing. They painted a moving and exhilarating picture rather than just recounting facts. These scenes gave a different perspective on a story I’d already heard. There are lots of visual descriptions ranging from lightning flashing overhead to the ritual sacrifice of animals. Bennett’s recounting of the Haitian Revolution is one of the most captivating things I’ve ever read. Hands down, my favorite chapter focused on the three major slave uprisings. The book is split into chapters, each of which focuses on a time period or event in American Black History. But, rather focuses on the history of the area of Africa from which enslaved Africans most likely would have been taken. So I truly appreciated that Before the Mayflower didn’t begin its history of Black people with slavery.

I’ve had an interest in Black History since childhood but am only just beginning to expand to the history of the entire diaspora.

Watch the video, listen to the podcast episode or scroll down to continue reading. Before the Mayflower has since been updated over the course of seven editions. Originally published in 1962, the book covers the history of Black America from 1619 to 1962. Before the Mayflower by Lerone Bennett Jr is the ultimate book to read if you’re interested in Black History, especially American Black History.

Lerone bennett before the mayflower