Books by Leslie Harris (editors)
“Slavery ended in New York in 1827, but leading up to the Civil War, New York City continued to be heavily implicated in slavery. The book also goes well beyond slavery in New York to a different period, which we also followed with a follow-on exhibition called “New York Divided.” The cotton produced in the South was sent to New York. To some extent, there was fabrication of cotton goods in New York, but for the most part, it was shipped overseas. New York companies took enslaved people as collateral. So, New York continued to be heavily involved in the slave economy up through the beginning of the Civil War. It was only after the attack on Fort Sumter that New York began to see itself as a northern city with union sympathies. In fact, Fernando Wood, the mayor of New York City just before the Civil War, suggested seceding on the grounds that “the grass would grow on Broadway,” he said, in the absence of slavery.” Read more...
Interviews where books by Leslie Harris (editors) were recommended
-
1
The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America
by Russell Shorto -
2
New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan
by Jill Lepore -
3
Slavery in New York
by Ira Berlin & Leslie Harris (editors) -
4
Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940
by George Chauncey -
5
New York and Los Angeles
by David Halle (editor)
The best books on New York History, recommended by Louise Mirrer
The best books on New York History, recommended by Louise Mirrer
Like several of the great cities of the world, New York’s openness to people born elsewhere and relative tolerance lay at the foundation of its success, though darker episodes in the city’s 400-year history also need attention. Historian Louise Mirrer, President of the New-York Historical Society, recommends books that are essential to understanding the essence of the Big Apple.
