African Founders

How Enslaved People Expanded American Ideals

By: David Hackett Fischer

Narrated by: Lamarr Gulley

In this sweeping, foundational work, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian David Hackett Fischer draws on extensive research to show how enslaved Africans and their descendants enlarged American ideas of freedom in varying ways in different regions of the early United States.

African Founders explores the little-known history of how enslaved people from different regions of Africa interacted with colonists of European origins to create new regional cultures in the colonial United States. The Africans brought with them linguistic skills, novel techniques of animal husbandry and farming, and generations-old ethical principles, among other attributes. This startling history reveals how much our country was shaped by these African influences in its early years, producing a new, distinctly American culture.

Drawing on decades of research, some of it in western Africa, Fischer recreates the diverse regional life that shaped the early American republic. He shows that there were varieties of slavery in America and varieties of new American culture, from Puritan New England to Dutch New York, Quaker Pennsylvania, cavalier Virginia, coastal Carolina, and Louisiana and Texas.

This landmark work of history will transform our understanding of America’s origins.

Richness Of the history

New information I was not aware of told in an interesting and engaging narrative which was fascinating

This is a must read.

This book fills in the unspoken history that was always passed on in black families.

it's American history

this was a really good book it covers all the different regions of slavery very good history listen

Insightful history, long time coming

Such an insightful treatise on the origins, roles, and genuine influences of Africans on American culture. I was taken by how clearly their local African origins have uniquely affected each American region in special ways. I walked away with an important new appreciation for the vast influence of a culture that broke through enslavement while simultaneously affecting the entire world..
This is a good companion piece to Fischer’s equally thorough history of British influence in America, Albion’s Seed.
Sadly, this book deserved a much better audio experience. For my ears ears, the reader simply doesn’t have the right cadence and presentation for this material. I found myself actively listening beyond his presentation to enjoy the writing. Also, the audio engineering on this recording is puzzling. The quality sways over and over between a smooth, even sound, to sections of distracting, louder volume with distortion. In all a disappointing technical and talent audio effort.

Wow!

This is an expansive scholarly work offering in depth, well researched insights and perspectives. An invaluable addition to Black history literature. Narrator is great, especially when rendering direct quotes.