The Lost Childhood
Book Review
King, Wilma, Lost Childhood: Slave Youth, Indiana University Press, December 1995
Lost Childhood: Slave Youth
The lost childhood: Slave Youth, was written by Wilma King in 1995, and as the title of the book indicates, it is a detailed study of the experiences shared by slave children during the 19th century. This book takes a much closer look at the lives of slaves all over the Unites States. Although I was skeptical about this assignment, I was astonished at some of the things that I learned in this book The author does not take her information from outside sources only, but actually gets stories directly from the slaves themselves. This book has opened my eyes to the horrifying situations that slaves had to endure during the 19th century. There were certain parts of the book that drew me more than others, such as the chapters about slave infancies, and the chapters about leisure, and labor. Wilma King takes on a personal role I interviewing former slaves herself, as well as using certain documents as proof, and assessing information from former slave autobiographies. Wilma King made a huge contribution to the understanding of slave history. Slaves in the 19th century were living basically in poverty. Their homes were unsanitary, their work long, and harsh, and malnourished. What was really bad for adults to deal with was absolutely horrible for the little ones to go through as well. But what about new borns, what happens to them? How do infants cope with such ghastly conditions? Well according to King, the rate of infant survivals at that time was basically slim to none. In one such instance, Henry Bib, a former slave, vowed he would never father children as long as I am a slave Thomas, H Jones’s wails were piercing King writes as he first saw his baby girl for the very first time. Jones cried for the future of his children, and the harshness they must endure in
King, Wilma, Lost Childhood: Slave Youth, Indiana University Press, December 1995
Lost Childhood: Slave Youth
The lost childhood: Slave Youth, was written by Wilma King in 1995, and as the title of the book indicates, it is a detailed study of the experiences shared by slave children during the 19th century. This book takes a much closer look at the lives of slaves all over the Unites States. Although I was skeptical about this assignment, I was astonished at some of the things that I learned in this book The author does not take her information from outside sources only, but actually gets stories directly from the slaves themselves. This book has opened my eyes to the horrifying situations that slaves had to endure during the 19th century. There were certain parts of the book that drew me more than others, such as the chapters about slave infancies, and the chapters about leisure, and labor. Wilma King takes on a personal role I interviewing former slaves herself, as well as using certain documents as proof, and assessing information from former slave autobiographies. Wilma King made a huge contribution to the understanding of slave history. Slaves in the 19th century were living basically in poverty. Their homes were unsanitary, their work long, and harsh, and malnourished. What was really bad for adults to deal with was absolutely horrible for the little ones to go through as well. But what about new borns, what happens to them? How do infants cope with such ghastly conditions? Well according to King, the rate of infant survivals at that time was basically slim to none. In one such instance, Henry Bib, a former slave, vowed he would never father children as long as I am a slave Thomas, H Jones’s wails were piercing King writes as he first saw his baby girl for the very first time. Jones cried for the future of his children, and the harshness they must endure in