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Summary Of A Nation Under Our Feet By Steven Hahn

575 Words3 Pages

An uncharacteristic take on rural black politics, Steven Hahn’s A Nation under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from Slavery to the Great Migration transports readers into a world of faith, power, and family across the rural South. Diving into a period that spans nearly one hundred years, Hahn, an author, specialist, and professor, addresses the political culture of newly freed slaves as they maneuvered through challenges of freedom, Jim Crow laws, and religion. Hahn pens, “ [A Nation under Our Feet] is a book about extraordinary people who did extraordinary things under the most difficult…” (1). The author successfully presents such book in this sequential timeline and geographical mapping from Texas to Virginia. Through his synthesis of vast primary literature on slavery, Civil War South, and the Great Migration, Hahn supports his arguments and presents readers with a new look into the past. …show more content…

He concludes his narrative with an epilogue eloquently titled “Up, You Mighty Race”. In the first part, Hahn introduces readers to the late antebellum period that was characterized by strong family values, formation of communication based networks and leadership roles. Chapter one focuses on the mobilization of communities and the role slavery played in the formation of familial ties. Slaves begin to become aware of politics. The following chapters uncover politic relations during the Civil War and after the Emancipation Proclamation. Blacks were introduced to “new” communities in the army and were able to network with others from different programs. Hahn pens, contraband camps were “collecting points for slaves who rebelled against the authority of their masters [and] a great culture and political meeting grounds” (73). Following the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves begin to take political

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