Time on the Cross: The Economics of American Negro Slavery, Volume 1

LibraryThing Review

Time on the Cross created a sensation when it was first published, and received largely favorable notice. It claimed to break new ground with its cliometric study of slavery. A notable dissenter from ... Read full review

As a history student at Case Western Reserve University in 1974, The great professor, Bertram Wyatt-Brown, had us read this book. Being a young, urban, African-American, I thought Wyatt-Brown was off base assigning this book to read. I had heard only negative accounts of slavery and wasn't open to any benevolent associations with the "evil institution". However, the book allowed me to see a different perspective. I'm certain there were some "kind hearted" slave masters, and I've even learned about some slaves desiring enslavement once emancipated, because of hardships experienced once they were freed. The book seems to fit the Romney-Ryan theory of today that victims don't want to contribute to society but would rather just be taken care of by master. I'm certain the majority of masters were not kind, and the number of free slaves seeking re-enslavement was minimal, but these situations did exist. It may be difficult for blacks to understand such concepts, just as it is to understand black slaveholders, but such practices existed. I entered class preparing to take Wyatt-Brown to task, but I ended up learning something that I would have never imagined on my own. Greg Young CWRU class of 1977