Making Sense of Slavery

“Accessible, important, and engaging... Spillman is an exceptionally thoughtful and engaging guide through the questions and debates that have animated the study of slavery — and freedom — in America for the past two-and-a-half centuries.”—Washington Independent Review of Books

“A valuable addition to the literature of slavery.”—Kirkus

“An astute, accessible overview.”—Library Journal

“Scott Spillman's work asks a simple, but necessary question: What do we think about slavery? We’ve been debating the answer for centuries. Spillman skillfully brings together a deep and wide sense of how Americans and historians have grappled with the past, present, and future of our nation stained by slavery. In an age of book banning and political polarization, Spillman shows us the stakes regarding the history of slavery could not be higher. Brilliant, biting, and timely.”
 —Kellie Carter Jackson, author of We Refuse

“Simply amazing. A brilliant tour d'horizon of 250 years of American thinking and writing about slavery.”—James T. Campbell, author of Middle Passages

“Scott Spillman’s remarkable book is a breathtaking survey of nearly two centuries of scholarship on slavery. Filled with insights and surprises, Making Sense of Slavery is essential reading for anyone who hopes to come to terms with America’s tortured past.”—James Oakes, author of The Crooked Path to Abolition

“Scott Spillman has written an essential book, tracing how Americans have perceived, studied, and reckoned with slavery. Starting with the early abolitionist Anthony Benezet and taking the story all the way down to the controversies over the 1619 Project, Spillman lucidly chronicles the long series of anguished and angry arguments that did not end with the Civil War, but moved into the realm of historical study, and have remained central to the way we understand both our nation and the human condition.”—David A. Bell, Princeton University