'Complicity'

Complicity: How the North Promoted, Prolonged, and Profited from Slavery, by Anne Farrow, Joel Lang, and Jenifer Frank.

This book has a story of its own. When Aetna Insurance Company apologized to its shareholders in 2002 for having written insurance policies on slaves before the Civil War, three Connecticut journalists began to research the role of citizens and companies in their state in the promotion of slavery. Their work eventually expanded into the current book, which documents and describes how Northern shippers, factory owners, business magnates and even the makers of piano keys all depended on the slave system for their economic success.

Written in an easy-to-read newspaper style and generously illustrated with pictures and documents of the time, this book is as approachable as it is eye opening. ... If there is anyone who thinks that the division between the North and the South over the question of slavery was clean-cut and who is unaware that it was seriously proposed that New York City secede with the South, that person needs this book. Patricia Moore, Chestnut Hill, MA

View a discussion of Northern Slavery on the Atlanta Forum Network here.

Farai Chideya talks with Anne Farrow, co-author of the book Complicity: How the North Promoted, Prolonged, and Profited from Slavery, which reveals the history of the Northern slave market, and the stories of many of those who were bought, sold and survived. Listen to the program here.