The Negro: a central theme in American History

Abstract

In the United States, Negro history has been characterized, until very recently, either by traditionalism or by revisionism. The traditionalist historians held, in brief, that Negroes were of little consequence to the American experience. Revisionist historians, on the other hand, hold that Negroes have made some important contributions to the American heritage. Within the last decade, however, a new group of scholars has challenged both these views, and Negro historiography has begun to undergo a radical shift in interpretation. For the latest studies stress the centrality of institutions like slavery to long periods of American history, and regard the Negro as a key to the meaning of the American experi-