Overview

Centering Black voices and the narratives of enslaved people, this young adult history offers a thoroughly researched account with first-hand testimonies of how people in bondage were themselves a driving force behind their own emancipation. Features a new introduction by Robin D. G. Kelley, black & white illustrations and photographs, and updates throughout. ""A significant contribution to American history.""-Kirkus Reviews ""[Breaking the Chains] will force many readers to reexamine their assumptions about American history....Young adults will be fascinated and better informed for having experienced this book."" -School Library Journal, starred review Generations of American history students have grown up believing that enslaved people accepted their lot and became attached to their enslavers, that rebellion was rare, and that liberation from slavery happened thanks to the enslavers. Celebrated historian and children's book author, William Loren Katz offers a thoroughly researched look at the lives of enslaved people in the United States in Breaking the Chains. From their African abductions through their brave resistance to and escape from the ships and harsh plantation life to their roles in the Civil War, those given voice here show that enslaved people themselves were a driving force behind their emancipation. This compelling look at history is an educational eye-opener for history buffs of all ages, and offers clarity on one of the most turbulent periods of US history. This new paperback edition features a new introduction by historian Robin D. G. Kelley. ""Katz masterfully steers the reader step by step through the astonishing forms of resistance, both active and passive. . . . powerful and authentic."" -Publishers Weekly

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William Loren Katz is the author of forty books, including such award-winning titles as Breaking the Chains: African American Slave Resistance, The Black West, and Black Women of the Old West. He has lectured in Europe, Africa, and the United States; he has been a Scholar in Residence at Teachers College, Columbia University; and he has served as a consultant to the Smithsonian Institute and to school systems from California to Florida and England. He lives in New York City. Robin D. G. Kelley earned his PhD in history from UCLA and focused his work on social movements, politics and culture-although music remained his passion. During his tenure on the faculties of Emory University, the University of Michigan, New York University, and Columbia University, Kelley's scholarly interests shifted increasingly toward music. He has written widely on jazz, hip hop, electronic music, musicians' unions and technological displacement, and social and political movements more broadly. Kelley's essays have appeared in several anthologies and journals, including the Nation, Monthly Review, the Voice Literary Supplement, New York Times (Arts and Leisure), New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Color Lines, Code Magazine, Utne Reader, Lenox Avenue, African Studies Review, Black Music Research Journal, Callaloo, New Politics, Black Renaissance/Renaissance Noir, One World, Social Text, Metropolis, American Visions, Boston Review, Fashion Theory, American Historical Review, Journal of American History, New Labor Forum, Souls, Metropolis, and more. Leon Nixon is a professional actor, playwright, and filmmaker. A Los Angeles native, he has performed in short films, web series, and on stage in dramatic and comedic roles. He is also an improviser and part of the group that appears in the Guinness Book of World Records for Longest Continuous Improv Show.

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