Perhaps one of the most important themes in Schermerhorn’s book is simply how much money was to be made from chattel slavery, particularly after the introduction of Eli Whitney’s cotton gin in 1794. As evidenced by our continued national debates over race disparities in police targeting, felony conviction rates, and household incomes, among others, the ghosts of America’s past haunt us still.

Unrequited Toil: A History of United States Slavery, by Arizona State University professor Calvin Schermerhorn, offers a fascinating account of centuries of American avarice, lust, and violence committed through chattel slavery. Moreover, a less frequently discussed reality of America’s “peculiar institution” is how complicit was the North in perpetuating the horrors of slavery, with many Northerners eager to see it preserved. That single emblem reflects a deep contradiction in the identity and history of the South, one from which we have yet fully to shake free, 150 years after slavery’s abolition. The juxtaposition of that flag with our experience was jarring. Then, a bit north of Richmond, I spied a massive Confederate battle flag looming above the treetops over the highway. Gastronomically sated, we packed the kids back in the car and headed up 95. Both establishments exemplified the manners, gentility, and unashamed religiosity of Southern culture. It was the Lord’s Day and the place was packed with folks proudly dressed in their Sunday best or sporting various religious paraphernalia. On the way home we stopped at a true Virginia institution, Williamsburg’s Pierce’s Pitt BBQ, where we sampled the always-delicious pulled pork, hush puppies, cornbread, and coleslaw.

A young, very respectful employee at a Chick-fil-A offered my children a free soft-serve while the music of evangelical Chris Tomlin played in the background. On a recent trip to the Tidewater region of Virginia to visit family, my appreciation for the South was rekindled. Unrequited Toil: A History of United States SlaveryĢ64 pages hardcover, $100 paperback, $25.

Unrequited Toil by Calvin Schermerhorn