Slavery and the Making of America Book

You should read Slavery and the Making of America if you are a college student taking an American History survey course, a teacher in high school, teaching American History, an AP high school student, or an adult living in America who ever looks around and asks, how the hell did we get here to this place of intense racial prejudice, violence and hatred in 2019.
The answer is contained in this book, by James Oliver Horton and Lois E. Horton, (hello, Goodreads, the co-author isn't worth putting on the title of the book?)
The Hortons trace the history of slavery in America from its African roots, to its expansion into 15th century Europe. Who knew that before the fall of Constantinople in 1453,enslaved people in Europe came from the Slavic areas around the Black Sea? The book includes first hand accounts of the Middle Passage, where Africans were chained together under the decks of ships, without any room to move or fresh air to breathe. It also points out that in the 1600s, when Africans first came to Jamestown, slavery as an institution was not set in stone. Many Africans were bound laborers who worked for their masters for a time, were allowed to marry, and after a period of time, became free. These early African residents were allowed to own land and pass on their holdings to their children.
Throughout the book, the Hortons show Africans and African Americans , enslaved and free, as determined people who worked hard for their own betterment, went through huge struggles to keep their families together, and resolutely sought to take their places as productive citizens of the United States.