Book Review

Fischer, David Hackett. African Founders: How Enslaved People Expanded American Ideals. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2022.

In his thirteenth book, prominent Revolutionary Era historian David Hackett Fischer humanizes, individualizes, and acknowledges Africans who were enslaved in their homelands and transported for sale to colonial America. Through remarkable research, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian organizes his prodigious work into northern, southern, and frontier regions, each containing three chapters. These chapters illustrate the lives of African Americans along with their unique regional characteristics and contributions.

Fischer presents his work as an inquiry into “what happened when Africans and Europeans came to North America,” steering clear of “predominantly positive or negative judgments” prevalent in our national discourse today (p. 3). As an inquiry, Fischer acknowledges that his work is not the final authority on African American history but rather an evolving understanding of slavery, with significant variations within and among regions. He continues the tradition of noted slavery historian Ira Berlin, who demonstrated in Many Thousands Gone that the meanings of slavery and race were continually renegotiated and redefined regionally in the antebellum period. One of the strengths of African Founders is its recognition of the insights and scholarship of earlier historians.

While educating general readers and scholars about the lives and contributions of African Americans, the emeritus professor demonstrates seven keen insights into history writing.

1. Visits the places they write about

Fischer and his wife, Judith Hummel Fisher, traveled to Africa several times to witness firsthand the regions from which enslaved people were taken to America. These visits were especially valuable for understanding tribal connections and the continent’s cultural expressions in food, music, and art. It is refreshing that Fischer recognizes his wife’s contributions to his scholarship in the book’s main body instead of relegating her assistance to a vague thank you in the acknowledgments section.

2. Uses specific versus general labels for people and groups of people

Historians frequently refer to enslaved individuals simply as Africans or slaves. Fischer illustrates notable differences among those brought to the Americas from this extensively diverse continent. Colonial buyers recognized these dissimilarities and sought individuals from various regions for their distinct skills, such as expertise in rice cultivation, watercraft management, or fishing. Refreshingly, the author uses African tribal names instead of the general term African whenever possible.

3. Portrays interesting stories to demonstrate their assertions

African Founders contains captivating stories from oral traditions and written historical documents. In Fischer’s view, an enslaved person is humanized, showcasing many impressive accomplishments despite the brutal working and living conditions. For example, Fischer highlights the life and contributions of Baltimorean Daniel Coker, a former slave who founded two schools, preached at a Methodist church, and helped provide Black individuals with employment opportunities. The religious leader advocated for gradual emancipation by writing an influential pamphlet titled A Dialogue Between a Virginian and an African Minister. Fischer represents that even the slave-owning class respected Coker’s intellect and deportment.

4. Provides new insights on old subjects

Readers discover many underreported aspects of enslaved life. For example, there were “Negro Governors” in many New England towns who policed and punished Black offenders. While unelected, the Negro Governors provided justice within the African American community and advocated when enslaved people interacted with the white justice system. Many enslaved people came to America, professing and practicing Christianity or Islam is another underrecognized example.

Fischer also asserts that Africans brought extraordinary language skills to the Americas. They became interpreters and translators with Native Americans and between people of various African tribes with different languages. The African enslaved people founded new American languages such as Black Dutch in the Hudson Valley, Gullah in the Carolina low country, Geechee in coastal Georgia, and Gombo in Louisiana. Efforts continue to preserve this gifted invention of languages.

5. Does not pass moral judgments but does not condone or overlook immoral behaviors.

One of the book’s strengths is its avoidance of moral judgments about eighteenth and nineteenth-century societies based on contemporary values. Fischer shows that a historian’s role is to provide accurate and relevant histories without condemning earlier generations. The chapter on the Black Seminoles is gruesomely brutal, focusing on the facts rather than judgments. Escaped enslaved people formed alliances with Native Americans, establishing a society in Florida that white settlers called Seminoles. The US Army fought at least four wars against the Seminoles, destroying villages and targeting non-combatants. Ultimately, the conflicts ended with the majority, but not all, of the Seminoles being relocated to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. There, the Black Seminoles faced significant racial hostility. Consequently, a group of Black Seminoles migrated to northern Mexico to escape re-enslavement and find peace. Their community endures to this day.

6. Recognizes contributions from all, not just elites

While there are stories featuring well-known leaders such as Frederick Douglass or Phillis Wheatley, many of the people featured are obscure or unknown to most of us today. Fischer notes that many heroes sought to throw off the slavery shackles or who achieved impressive accomplishments. An example is an African community leader Bilali Mahomet. Relatively unknown today, Mahomet had been born into a prominent family in the Guinea-Conakry region of West Africa. A devout Muslim fluent in Fulfulde, French, and English, he rose to be a plantation manager, supervising five hundred slaves. During the War of 1812, he defended his people from the British. He earned respect from both the white and Black communities.

7. Performs original research but recognizes the contributions of other historians.

African Founders represents a prodigious amount of primary research. However, Fischer recognizes contributions from other historians to his work. He especially praises the tedious job of assembling various African American slave databases, which provides a richer data source for insightful quantitative analysis. Each chapter concludes with five or more information tables, providing readers with data to support the chapter’s assertions.

In his concluding chapter, Fischer provocatively highlights the significant contributions of African Americans, demonstrating how enslaved individuals expanded American ideals, his principal thesis. He argues that African Americans fundamentally shaped music, language, speech, spirit, soul, ethics, and freedoms. Consequently, many readers may perceive the book as ending overly bright and optimistic. While the contributions of African Americans are undeniable, they came at an unimaginable cost. Throughout the book, the author stresses that all forms of slavery are brutal, and none are benign. A more nuanced conclusion would juxtapose the horrors of slavery with the resilience of those who overcame its traumatic effects to achieve so much. Nonetheless, the author effectively illustrates the richness of the diverse cultures forcibly brought from Africa, showcasing their impressive capabilities, adaptability, and perseverance.