North of Slavery, by Leon F. Litwack. University of
             Slavery, a word that can be defined no better than a menacing and brutal act that brought terror to African American lives. In the early to middle 1800's the race began to discover hope to rid themselves the lack of freedom. With the help of abolitionists and other people fighting against slavery, light was beginning to shine at the end of the long, bloody tunnel. Sadly, the freedom from slavery did not come without obstacles. Many blacks were victims of segregation and even emigration out of the country. The purpose of this book is to explain the period of slavery and the situations of Negroes from 1790 to 1860.
             The author, Leon F. Litwack, published this book in 1961. He began teaching in 1964 after earning a B.A. in 1951 and a Ph.D. in 1958. He is the A.F. and May T. Morrison Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley, and is a past president of OAH. North of Slavery was his first major publication. He later wrote Been in the Storm So Long: The Aftermath of Slavery (1980). The book was the winner of the Pulitzer and Francis Parkman prizes. His latest book is Trouble in Mind: Black Southerners in the Age of Jim Crow (1998).
             The author's theme of the book is presented as the subtitle, which is "The Negro in the Free States 1790 – 1860." Step by step, Litwack explains the situations of Negroes during that time period. He expresses absolutely no opinion in the book. The writing is completely factual information. He tells it as it happened without providing any of his feelings or reactions.
             Litwack doesn't seem to have any real strong contentions. Without him expressing any thoughts throughout the book, it is impossible to prove what his contentions are. He simply writes the facts and nothing more. He is also very straightforward through his work.
             He approaches this book in a basic, chronological met...