Ira Berlin writes in her book, Many Thousand Gone; The first Two Centuries of Slavery in North America, about the development of slavery in North America. Areas in North America that are discussed range from Philadelphia, to New York, and from the Chesapeake Region to the low country of Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina. Berlin discusses societies with slaves in the early to middle 1600s and continues as the regions developed into slave societies in the 1700s. In those times slave owners and slave interactions are addressed, as well as different lifestyles and approaches in plantations. These different items that Berlin addresses supports her thesis that as slavery developed in North America, it went through different stages. These stages allotted the growth …show more content…
Within these sections she gives evidence on how these shifts were impacting the plantations, slaves, and the societies. The first section is titled, Societies with Slaves. Berlin discusses agricultural practices, responsibilities of the slaves, and the interactions between blacks and whites as the society developed into a slave society. The second section is titled, Slave Societies. In this section, Berlin discusses the ways slaves were impacted by the change of society, the growth of tobacco and rice plantations, and the growth of slavery which brings up the beginning of resistance. The final section, is titled The Revolutionary Generation. In the Revolutionary Generation, Berlin discusses the build up to the Revolutionary War. Different reconstructions are discussed; reconstructing families and black life. Berlin also discusses how the war affected the slaves. I believe that Berlin’s evidence that she uses to support her thesis has a really good technique. I found the way she broke three stages into sections as smart. It allowed her to give an ample amount of evidence to support each section and then the sections tied together really