{"product_id":"black-masters-a-free-family-of-color-in-the-old-south-1","title":"Black Masters: A Free Family of Color in the Old South","description":"\"A remarkably fine work of creative scholarship.\" ―C. Vann Woodward, New York Review of Books In 1860, when four million African Americans were enslaved, a quarter-million others, including William Ellison, were \"free people of color.\" But Ellison was remarkable. Born a slave, his experience spans the history of the South from George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis. In a day when most Americans, black and white, worked the soil, barely scraping together a living, Ellison was a cotton-gin maker―a master craftsman. When nearly all free blacks were destitute, Ellison was wealthy and well-established. He owned a large plantation and more slaves than all but the richest white planters.\n\nWhile Ellison was exceptional in many respects, the story of his life sheds light on the collective experience of African Americans in the antebellum South to whom he remained bound by race. His family history emphasizes the fine line separating freedom from slavery.\u003cbr\u003eASIN: 0393303144\u003cbr\u003eVSKU: LFV.0393303144.VG\u003cbr\u003eCondition: Very Good\u003cbr\u003eAuthor\/Artist:Roark, James L.|Johnson, Michael P.\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNote:\u003c\/b\u003e Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Notes\u003c\/b\u003e: Book is in very good condition.  Clean with little to no signs of wear or markings highlights.  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Books for Life","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46827216928965,"sku":"LFV.0393303144.VG","price":15.94,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0650\/2914\/4773\/files\/0393303144-0.jpg?v=1787937056","url":"https:\/\/www.booksforlife.store\/products\/black-masters-a-free-family-of-color-in-the-old-south-1","provider":"Books for Life","version":"1.0","type":"link"}