Other editions of book To Be a Slave

A Newbery Honor BookWhat was it like to be a slave? Listen to the words and learn about the lives of countless slaves and ex-slaves, telling about their forced journey from Africa to the United States, their work in the fields and houses of their owners, and their passion for freedom. You will never look at life the same way again."The dehumanizing aspects of slavery are made abundantly clear, but a testament to the human spirit of those who endured or survived this experience is exalted."—Children's Literature

Lester's first book and runner-up for the 1969 Newbery Medal. First Edition. "To be a slave. To be owned by another person, as a car, house, or table is owned. To live as a piece of property that could be sold, a child sold from its mother, a wife from her husband. To be considered not human, but a 'thing' that plowed the fields, cut the wood, cooked the food, nursed another's children, a 'thing' whose sole function was determined by the one who owned you." This book is about how it felt. All the aspects of slavery in America are described in vivid and often painful detail by black men and women who had themselves been slaves. The material is arranged in a historical time sequence which begins in Africa and culminates with the Civil War and Emancipation, but the emotions of the people who lived through it are timeless.

To be a slave. To be owned by another person, as a car, house, or table is owned. To live as a piece of property that could be sold. To be considered not human, but a "thing" that plowed the fields, cut the wood, cooked the food, nursed another's child; a "thing" whose sole function was determined by the one who owned you. To be a slave. To know, despite the suffering and deprivation, that you were human, more human than he who said you were not human. To know joy, laughter, sorrow, and tears and yet be considered only the equal of a table. To be a slave was to be a human being under conditions in which that humanity was denied. They were not slaves. They were people. Their condition was slavery. They who were held as slaves looked upon themselves and the servitude in which they found themselves with the eyes and minds of human beings, conscious of everything that happened to them, conscious of all that went on around them. Yet slaves are often picture as little more than dumb, brute animals, whose sole attributes were found in working, singing, and dancing. They were like children, and slavery was actually a benefit to them -- this was the view of those who were not slaves. Those who were slaves tell a different story. Here are their stories -- in their words.