Inheriting the Trade A Northern Family Confronts Its Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading Dynasty in U.S. History

by DEWOLF, THOMAS NORMAN

• ISBN13: 9780807072820
• ISBN10: 0807072826
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-01-01
• Publisher: Beacon Press

Summary

A trailblazing memoir about one family's quest to face its slave-trading past, and an urgent call for reconciliation In 2001, Thomas DeWolf discovered that he was related to the most successful slave-trading family in U.S. history, responsible for transporting at least ten thousand Africans. This is his memoir of the journey in which ten family members retraced their ancestors' steps through the notorious triangle trade route-from New England to West Africa to Cuba-and uncovered the hidden history of New England and the other northern states.

Author Biography

Thomas Norman DeWolf was born in California and educated at the University of Oregon. He served as city councilor, county commissioner, and for nine years on the Oregon Arts Commission. His years of public service focused on literacy, children's issues, and restorative justice. A member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, he lives with his wife in Oregon.

Table of Contents

Family Tree	p. VIII
Preface	p. XI
Growing Up White	p. 1
"Frail limb'd, well fed, and speaks good English"	p. 12
"So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord!"	p. 30
The Great Folks	p. 39
"I tremble for my country..."	p. 55
Akwaaba	p. 71
"Under a Patchwork of Scars"	p. 91
The Door of No Return	p. 110
"I have to do it every day"	p. 121
Gye Nyame	p. 132
The Middle Passage	p. 146
La Habana	p. 155
"Our Nice Protestant Selves"	p. 169
Arca de Noe	p. 182
In the Fishbowl	p. 197
My Harvard Education	p. 209
Repairing the Breach	p. 219
Sankofa	p. 230
Afterword	p. 241
Acknowledgments	p. 252
Notes	p. 257
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