Dark Places of the Earth, Jonathan M. Bryant
Dark Places of the Earth, Jonathan M. Bryant
1 Rating(s)
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
Club: $14.99

Dark Places of the Earth
The Voyage of the Slave Ship Antelope

Author: Jonathan M. Bryant

Narrator: Tom Zingarelli

Unabridged: 10 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/13/2015

Synopsis

A dramatic work of historical detection illuminating one of the most significant--and long-forgotten--Supreme Court cases in American history. In 1820, the slave ship Antelope was captured off the Florida coast. Though the slave trade was prohibited, slavery was still legal in half of the United States, and it was left to the Supreme Court to determine whether nearly 300 Africans on board were considered slaves and if so, to whom they belonged. Mining untapped archives, Jonathan M. Bryant recounts the Antelope fraught journey across the Atlantic, leading up to the momentous courtroom battle of 1825 that defined the moral and legal implications of slavery for a generation and was enormously influential in the Amistad trial. For Havana ports to the West African coast, from Georgia plantations to a Liberian settlement, Dark Places of the Earth creates a multidimensional portrait of the global slave trade. Bryant's work restores the Antelope to its rightful place as one of the most shocking and unjustly forgotten episodes in America legal history.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Bob

Jonathan Bryant is a history professor who specializes in slavery and constitutional law. That sums up his book "Dark Places of the Earth" pretty well. It is the story of the slave ship Antelope and how the captive Africans aboard her got caught up in the American legal system of the 1820's. It is t......more

Goodreads review by Doug

Johnathan Bryant does a masterful job of shedding a bright light on a little known but extremely important event in American History. Meticulously researched, the author’s efforts show in graphic detail the plight of over 300 Africans brought to the shores of the United States by the slave ship Ante......more

Goodreads review by Marti

This might not be the sort of thing I would read unless it were given to me for free, but I certainly learned a lot about maritime law and the early history of the Supreme Court. The fact that it was accessible to someone like me who does not have a law background must say a lot about the skills of......more

Goodreads review by Darlene

Extensively researched and densely packed with information, this disturbing tale of the fate of slaves when the ship they're on is captured by pirates will appeal most to serious historians, legal scholars, and researchers. Unlike the better-known tale of the Amistad, this earlier court case has lit......more

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List