Reviews for Vital Enemies: Slavery, Predation, and the Amerindian Political Economy of Life

The average rating for Vital Enemies: Slavery, Predation, and the Amerindian Political Economy of Life based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-10-04 00:00:00 Adrian Hill My initial reason for getting this book was to complement my genealogical research and to hopefully gain some insight into where particular African ethnicities tended to be distributed in the United States as a result of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. In my opinion, the author seriously missed the primary interest of her audience. For whatever reason (possibly due to the paucity of ethnic documentation in records of the North American colonies/states), the author chose to focus primarily on the importation patters of Brazil, St. Domingue, and Cuba. When she did touch upon the North American colonies, the vast majority of her focus (90% at least) seemed to be only on Louisiana. While I can appreciate the author's explanation that the American planters and others involved in the slave trade to the United States were less focused on the African tribal/ethnic identities of their slaves, this gap in information renders the book almost wholly useless for genealogical researchers interested in any state other than Louisiana. There was brief mention of the primary composition of slaves in the Chesapeake region of Virginia, but barely any mention of those coming through the port of Charleston (the primary source of slaves for the Carolinas and Georgia, and thus for points further West). In short, the book will provide the reader with a lot of good information concerning what ethnicities tended to be enslaved the most, and therefore provide a bit of a laundry list for further research. However, one must be prepared to use their own extrapolation and/or further research to make this information more useful in regard to other areas of the U.S. besides Louisiana.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-11-12 00:00:00 BRIAN WINCHELL powerful and inspiring