BOOK/MEDIA REVIEWS

Abstract

Death or Liberty: African American and Revolutionary America, by Douglas R. Egerton. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009, 342 pp., $29.95, hardback.As one ventures into their local bookstore and library here lately, one can attest to the plethora of books available and devoted to the impact and legacy of the Founding Fathers. In general, the majority of these volumes are patriotic studies that merely reinforce the various accomplishments and positive attributes of national figures who most Americans admire greatly, such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Madison. Thus, the challenge of Douglas Egerton is to use this highly popular interest in the Founding Fathers to create a more inclusive and realistic understanding of this period of American history as well as discuss other individuals, both famous and little-known, who made a substantial contribution to the development of this nation. In Death or Liberty: African American and Revolutionary America, Egerton, based on both relevant primary and numerous secondary sources, skillfully crafts a potent, coherent, and well-organized narrative that does exactly what is called for with this subject. In ten chapters, along with a prologue and an epilogue, the author meticulously describes the prominent role African Americans played in the major events and their influence on numerous preeminent radicals of the American Revolutionary Era from 1763 to 1800. Egerton does contend that despite African Americans not having the agency to vote, former bondpeople and even those still enslaved helped to shape the politics of the early Republic through their demands and actions (p. 14).To maintain the interest of the reader, Egerton begins each chapter with a short biographical sketch of familiar or little-known African Americans to highlight the main points of each section of the book. For instance, in the prologue the author examines the life of George Washington's enslaved companion and (or) valet William Billy Lee. In short, according to Egerton, the life of symbolizes the plight and experience of African Americans throughout the Revolutionary Era, because Lee personified a Revolution that spoke in bold terms but at best limped slowly down the path of human rights (p. 12).Overall, some of the individual biographical sketches are more useful than others because of their length, content, details, and focus. In the first chapter, for example, in much detail, Egerton shows how Olaudah Equaino's traveled across the pre-Revolutionary British Atlantic Ocean to Canada to the colonies and onto several Caribbean Islands throughout most of his adult life. …