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Making Freedom: The Extraordinary Life of Venture Smith (Garnet Books)
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About Making Freedom: The Extraordinary Life Of Venture
Product Description Making Freedom is the first in-depth exploration of the life of Venture Smith (1728–1805), a New England slave who was sold into bondage as a boy in Africa and labored for nearly a quarter-century before purchasing his own freedom and transforming himself into a highly respected American citizen. Drawing on years of research and documentation, including Venture Smith's rare personal autobiography, Saint and Krimsky vividly recount the extraordinary challenges he overcame. They cast a rare light on what it was like to be an African American in the north during the Colonial era. This story's relevance today prompted the BBC to produce a documentary on scholars' efforts to learn more about Venture Smith, his life, and family. The book includes a wealth of illustrations, a timeline, and Smith's original 1798 narrative in facsimile form. From Publishers Weekly Born to a noble African family, Venture Smith was captured and sold into slavery. Purchased by a wealthy family in New England, Smith immediately began to work to better his lot. He survived turbulent pre-Revolutionary New England and earned freedom for himself and his growing family. He went on to prosper in a tragically unjust time, and his detailed memoirs, recorded by a schoolteacher (he never learned to write) provide a surprisingly in-depth look at an often glossed-over part of American history, slavery in the North. In this book, historian Saint and journalist Krimsky go through the original 32-page memoir, commissioned by Smith in old age, providing a meticulously researched account of the man and his times. History buffs will be fascinated, particularly American history nuts far more familiar with stories of Southern slavery. Though it may leave readers wishing for more, Saint and Krimsky's brief, accessible history ends with a rich collection of research material, including a reproduction of Smith's original manuscript. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review "Some 850 public libraries statewide will soon have in their collections an account of one of the most significant, compelling - and, until recently, widely overlooked - stories of life in colonial Connecticut and surrounding areas. Today at 10 a.m. at the Capitol, five members of the state's congressional delegation will gather to announce a project to distribute copies of a book and audio CD to 250 municipal libraries and about 600 middle and high school libraries about the life of Venture Smith, an African slave who bought his freedom and became a prominent farmer and trader in 18th-century Connecticut. The book, 'Making Freedom: The Extraordinary Life of Venture Smith, ' and CD, which contains a reading of Smith's autobiography, will be distributed for free, thanks to Wesleyan University Press, which published the book at a reduced cost, the Connecticut State Library, which will handle the distribution, and a donation from Litchfield resident Peter Tillou."--Judy Benson, New London Day Review “The story of Venture Smith's life is not only extraordinary but is one of the most improbable biographies of American history. This fascinating and highly readable book will allow many readers to view the complexity of American slavery and race relations.”David Brion Davis, author of Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World (David Brion Davis, author of Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World) Review "Some 850 public libraries statewide will soon have in their collections an account of one of the most significant, compelling - and, until recently, widely overlooked - stories of life in colonial Connecticut and surrounding areas. Today at 10 a.m. at the Capitol, five members of the state's congressional delegation will gather to announce a project to distribute copies of a book and audio CD to 250 municipal libraries and about 600 middle and high school libraries about the life
