Ben Waber reviewed Black Ghost of Empire by Kris Manjapra
An Eye-Opening, Transnational Examination of Emancipation
5 stars
Manjapra proposes and then backs up a startling thesis - everywhere slavery was abolished, emancipation was both slower and less complete than is commonly believed. Starting with the early emancipation laws of the North that didn't free people who were currently enslaved and made their children slaves until they were in their 20s, then moving to imposition of onerous reparations payments from Haiti to France and other geographies. Particularly egregious was that the UK only finished paying off the bonds it issued to slaveholders as reparations for freeing their slaves in 2015. Highly recommend
Manjapra proposes and then backs up a startling thesis - everywhere slavery was abolished, emancipation was both slower and less complete than is commonly believed. Starting with the early emancipation laws of the North that didn't free people who were currently enslaved and made their children slaves until they were in their 20s, then moving to imposition of onerous reparations payments from Haiti to France and other geographies. Particularly egregious was that the UK only finished paying off the bonds it issued to slaveholders as reparations for freeing their slaves in 2015. Highly recommend