Slave Nation

Slave nation is a crucial account concerning the role played by slavery in shaping the United States as well as drawing the constitution of the United States. It recounts all the historical events that suggested America as being designed for the home of the slave and the land of the greed. American Revolution cannot be studied in isolation because doing so can be misleading. It is important to understand the overall context of the “Slave Nation” textbook in particular the English version. This textbook has expanded the American Revolution context and is a reliable source of information concerning the role of slavery in the American Revolution. There are very few cases which has analyzed showing clearly the sequences of events of the American Revolution and this makes this book more reliable as it has analyzed the sequences of events which led to American revolution in an orderly manner.

“Slave Nation” clearly shows that revolutionary talk was not prompted by any obligations which were imposed on American colonies. Instead, British judicial decision on Somerset case played a greater role in American Revolution. James Somerset decided to stay in England where he was free from slavery. His decision to stay in England caused the founding fathers of America to protest and seriously consider independence and revolution in their states. “Slave Nation” plays a vital role in expressing the role of slavery in the creation of US. There has been a theory that the Somerset case of 1772 influenced the American Revolution[1]. This theory is not new although many argue that it did not have any influence on the American Revolution. Since there has been an argument that slavery was not practiced in England, it created difficulties in writing records of events that could have influenced American Revolution[2]. This could one of the contributing factors that help the author of “Slave Nation” to put his ideas in orderly manner.

Somerset case is described by Blumrosens as the primary cause and not secondary cause of American Revolution[3]. The analysis of this case makes this book very crucial for all students who are interested in understanding the American history and how history can be destroyed for the political purposes. That is, history can be distorted by the politicians so that they can influence their followers in a positive manner. “Slave Nation” demonstrates clearly that in 1772 independence experienced very little support. Somerset case played a greater role in propelling Virginia elite to create correspondence committees and this action can be depicted as one of the historical detective works.

“Slave Nation” is a vital and startling textbook which can be said to be one of the best publications concerning the topic of black history. The authors who are law professors with a sound knowledge in civil rights have expressed the American history of the revolutionary period in an impressive manner with well-defended conclusions. Their key message is that slavery led to the founding of the nation and not the constitutional convention proceedings[4]. What constitutional convention proceedings did was revising the union of former colonies, and discovering the early background of the movement toward revolution. That is, the movement led to the creation of one united nation which was free and independent. This exposed the differences that existed between the southern colonies and the northern colonies. Southern colonies feared that the British were in a position to outlaw slavery, while accepted the continuation of slavery.

This work is very vital to a history student because reading it will challenge him/her as well as informing him concerning the issues of American Revolution. There are other books which have accounted the issue of slavery but “Slave Nation” is an exceptional one. In areas of constitutional law and American history, “Slave Nation” should be a must reading. Students will understand how James Somerset case contributed to American Revolution. This case led to the creation of state’s rights which were invented by the politicians who were directly involved in American Revolution. These politicians also authored the constitution with an aim of bringing the southern colonies into the American Revolution besides keeping them as a section of the new US.
Economic issues of slavery in colonial period and post revolution America are clearly expressed in “Slave Nation”. It also shows how continental congress and constitutional convention were held at the same time. Continental congress was aimed at negotiating the terms and conditions of the northwest ordinance. The law which was accomplished during this congress allowed the creation of new states from the Northwest Territory, which were declared free and slave state jurisdictions.
Although “Slave Nation” textbook seems to be less detailed concerning the historical time of the founders and framers, it clearly documents about Lincoln and slavery of the south colonies. North revolutionary leaders bargained with the south with an intention of forming a unified nation. This bargain led to the creation of principles which were held holy by confederacy’s conservative heirs in 2005 and in olden days by the confederate states in 1860s[5].

The slaveholding class and leaders of the southern colonies in 1773 were hoping for the integration of the colonies into Great Britain in which Americans were supposed to take their places in the House of Lords and the parliament. This was the reason why they were using the phrase “no tax without representation”. That is, Americans had to be represented in both the parliament and the House of Lords. After the Somerset case, if this case was fulfilled, the colonies would have been put under the common law. This would have made slavery illegal.

The ruling of the Somerset case shattered the hopes of the southern colonies for union with Britain. This case also helped in identified slavery as an odious institution which made slavery to be abolished in all British colonies. Without the influence of this case, the American south would not have joined the revolution. The southern states would also have stayed in the US with no constitution to protect their right to legislate slavery existence as well as defending slave owners human property rights. Therefore, Somerset case can be said have contributed a lot in the creation of state’s rights which permitted all the states to play a role in creating property rights for human slavery which was nationally enforceable. 
“Slave Nation” is thus a very important book in the field of history. It cautions individuals who are easily misled by rhetoric that tries to consecrate ‘the intention of the framers’ of the constitution. Politicians made a terrible mistake by using a dark compromise with an aim of protecting their vulnerable and newborn country. This dark compromise can be portrayed as a terrible price which was paid and should never ever be respected or praised because it led people astray.

“Slave Nation” is carefully documented book which presents a different view of the role played by slavery. Slavery played different roles in American history but the most remarkable one is the one documented in this book since it led to the origin of the United States. Different stages of how the revolution started has being brought out in the book starting with the impact of the Somerset case on the origin/founding of the republic.