The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives
Starred review from September 12, 2016
This powerful examination of five enslaved individuals and their presidential ownersâWashington, Jefferson, Madison, and Jacksonâdelves into these closely interwoven relationships while offering a broader look at America's history with slavery. Although Davis (the Don't Know Much About series) discusses familiar figures such as Sally Hemings and Frederick Douglass, his focus on a few little-known figuresâincluding Billy Lee, Washington's longtime valet, and Paul Jennings, who served James Madison during the War of 1812âdelivers an eye-opening vision of "stubborn facts" in American history that are often "swept under the carpet," as Davis notes in his introduction. At the heart of this chronicle is what Davis calls "America's great contradiction," the glaring dichotomy between the presidents' espoused beliefs in equality and their financial, domestic, and even emotional dependency on the individuals they owned. In a thoroughly researched and reasoned account, Davis exposes the intricacies of this impossibly tangled web ("Moral issues aside, the practical problem remained. Even wealthy, powerful men like Madison, Washington, and Jefferson who were considering emancipation couldn't do so without losing their fortunes"), supplemented by timelines, photographs, and other archival materials. Ages 10â14. Agent: David Black, David Black Literary.