"The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia" By Edmund S. Morgan.

American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia by Edmund S. Morgan is an in depth book written about Virginia's colonial experience. The emphasis of Morgan's book centers around contradictory institutions of slavery and freedom. He argues that Virginians' definition of freedom and their ability to create a republican political system rested on the creation of African slavery. As the settlement in America eventually became prosperous and colonists learned to produce tobacco for market, …

…pass and persisted. Morgan does as good a job as possible explaining this strange paradox. Virginian slavery stood openly at the foundation of the American Republic. Racial slavery was the perfect way to subdue the poor and keep them uneducated and out of politics. It is amazing that many of our fore fathers were slave owners professing that all men are created equal. Morgan is good at explaining it but will anyone truly understand it?