Rough Crossings Book

Interesting take on the campaign for the abolition of slavery.

The central contention of the book is that in the American War of Independence, the British were seen by the black community as representing freedom and liberty.

At one point Schama provocatively claims that it was only when it became clear that the British were prepared to arm slaves to fight against the colonial uprising in the North East that the political uprising over representation and taxes became a full fledged war of independence as the Southern plantation owners realised their whole economic system was under threat.

However, aside from this contention, the section focusing on the War is (a little like Schama's "A History of Britain" series, hard to follow at times, with lots of minutiae but little of the bigger picture and an assumption that the reader knows the subject under discussion already).

The second half of the book concentrates on the journey of the now freed slaves who did fight for the British to Sierra Leone (via Nova Scotia) including the role of key British abolitionists such as Granville Sharp, Thomas Clarkson (and the role played by his brother John as a father figure for the fledgling black community) as well as Thomas Peters - the first black politician in the white world. This section although too detailed is very interesting and well written.