Black Slaveowners: Free Black Slave Masters in South Carolina, 1790-1860 Paperback – Illustrated, December 2, 2011

The scope of research that has born this book is truly incredible! With each page you are left stunned by the careful assembly of so many facts from so many resources. The truth is empowering. And this book tells a truth that is timely and important today!No wonder so much of the history I was taught regarding the Antebellum period of the deep south simply didn't make sense! It is clear to see why these truths were omitted. Now with ALL of the pieces to the puzzle I have a much clearer understanding of that time period and a subject that is so divisive today.Read this and know the truth.

Never in my life had a dream I can see the fact that some of the successful planters of the slave era were black.This further explains why the American education system has a problem explaining the act of slavery in the United States of America because then they would have to give credit where credit is due to the untold numbers of colored men and women who wrote above the institution of slavery to create a destiny for themselves.As a member of this country who is committed to the truth, please read this book

Here's a slice of American history no one wants to talk about. But they need to. We are so overly obsessed with race, and not nearly as inquisitive when it comes to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about America and, this is big here, the greater human condition as lived throughout the ages. Moderns simply dwell too much on the politics of "color" and not enough on the politics of all peoples everywhere, and how they organized their lives. It is always more complex then pundits want you to think about.Here's the really big truth. Slavery has touched all people everywhere. Sorry, but the privileged white man does not own this condition. The privileged whites have been enslaved as much as anyone else. It just so happens that here, in the USA, we were one of the last nations to use slaves as a part of our economic engine. This state of affairs tore our nation apart, as many of you well know. We still suffer from our Civil War, and just as nasty, the Reconstruction. The reaction from Reconstruction gave us the KKK and the Jim Crow laws. And led us to this sour perplexity we face today, this idea that it is all about race.Enter the book Black Slaveowners by Larry Koger. This is a book for those who wish to be enlightened. It is a well researched, well cited work that opens a door to something I had known a little bit about, and now I know so much more. I was, at times, just downright flabbergasted by the information presented in the book, like the mulatto man who married a wealthy white woman, and whose subsequent generations rose to prominence and wealth, in the South! Did he own slaves? Of course he did because he successfully participated in the economic and societal life of the South. That story presents only one aspect of this complex system presented by Koger. Blacks owned blacks for a variety of reasons, financial gain being only one of them. Sometimes they bought them for help in their own businesses (yes, free blacks owned businesses in the pre-Civil War South) or sometimes they purchased their enslaved family members.The multi-layered, intriguing world of the Old South is so beyond books like Gone With the Wind and North and South, and anything written about the Civil War. Indeed, what we are used to when it comes to the Old South, is all about the war and evil masters. The Old South is a time in history that lasted for 300 years. I'm glad that historians like Larry Koger (and Rhetta Akamatsu, the author of The Irish Slaves, which I am reading currently) are giving us a more replete story of America, from Colonial times through the 19th century. Anyone interested in exploring the huge story that is America, will find this book broadening their education. The only negative I give it is that I would have preferred it written in a more lively manner - it is very academic in tone. But it is best that it is more text book than popular history book because it is a serious subject that needs to be taken seriously. We cannot move forward and get past this issue until we know the full story. This book is definitely one that will help us get there from here.

I had heard over the years about the practices detailed in this book but had never seen any detailed documentation until now. This book was written and published well before the current times when history seems more open to editing and interpretation than I ever remember it, which gives the book even more creedance. Highly recommended for those who want the “whole story” that isn’t being taught in school or recognized by modern times.

Being a student of Black history I loved this book. Learning about the Black slave owners and how they conducted business has been very educational. This book is a must for the serious student of history.

A fulfilling and demanding read. So much information that a clip board for note taking is essential.

I haven’t finished the book yet but it has been a very informative read.

I loved the data and the sourcing from documents. While this study details only one state, South Carolina, it is probably reflective of other southern and perhaps northern one as well.If you think slavery was a one sided enterprise you will wrong it was an institution worked by whites, malotto or blacks.I chose 5 stars because of the author's references and his while dry but informative detail.