A children’s book about slavery

When I think of children’s books, I usually don’t think of slavery (although portrayals of race in children’s books have been examined in ASR). In 1864, however, slavery and children’s books came together in the form of Abel Thomas’s The Gospel of Slavery: A Primer of Freedom. The book includes a rhyming discussion of slavery for each letter of the alphabet, with additional historical information below. A discussion of the book (which I assume was not the only anti-slavery children’s book of the time) is available at Slate, with the entire book available here.

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