The United States Governed by Six Hundred Thousand Despots: A True Story of Slavery; A Rediscovered Narrative, with a Full Biography

His voice is so profound, so outraged, so shocked, it's like he's right there in a conversation with you and he's super-sane and reflecting on the cruel and truly bonkers state of mind of so many people in his time. Every classroom needs this book; every one should read it, even just a few pages from any part of it. I think it was written as a serial (to be published in issues of a newspaper) so it's extremely accessible and readable from basically any starting point. Both he and his sister left such gifts and legacies for all of us and it's on us to keep learning from them.

The presentations by author and editor are brilliant. The book's historical premise is both erudite and easily understood. It is a literary work that dispels myths about human enslavement history world wide, while also providing irrefutable evidence of its cruel acceptance and justification in our own US founding documents and legal institutions. For the truth seeker, I think this is a profoundly important book, that deserves the widest readership possible.

Must read, as relevant today as when it was written more than a century ago. A major text, should be on every historians shelf. Buy it and weep for the misery that the African-American peoples have suffered at the hands of the white supremacist oppressors -- the U. S. Government!

The New York Times ran a review of this book recently and I was extremely interested so I downloaded it right away. The book is basically two parts. The first is the reprinting of an article that appeared in an Australian newspaper in 1855 titled “The United States Governed by Six Hundred Thousand Despots: A True Story of Slavery.” The second part is a biography of that article’s author, escaped US slave John Jacobs.The article itself is gut wrenching. Jacobs wrote explicitly about the atrocities of slavery and how, even the good masters were abhorrent because they were still robbing their slaves of freedom. As he writes: “My father taught me to hate slavery; but forgot to teach me how to conceal my hatred.” He eventually escapes from an owner who treated him as well as any of the six owners he had in his life of slavery. And in signing his goodbye letter “no longer yours” gets his last laugh.Jacobs’ article also goes on to expound about how complicit even the northern states were in the US’ involvement in slavery, pointing out the painful hypocrisy in a country founded on the principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that allowed for, neigh, protected, the institution of slavery. As he points out: “In the original Constitution the word “slave” cannot be found; but it was well known by the nation that it was there, and that it was not in the power of Congress to wipe it out.” He also spends some time on how a supposed Christian nation could allow such a thing, quoting from the Bible directly.The biography of Jacobs, written by Jonathan D. S. Schroeder, the man who happened to stumble on Jacobs’ long forgotten article and who clearly did extensive research to bring Jacobs’ story to life was equally fascinating. After his escape, Jacobs spoke for years in the northern states about abolition. He then moved to California to try to strike gold along with so many others at the time. He finally became a mariner, living most of the rest of his life at sea aboard merchant ships, which is how he happened to be in Australia getting his article published.In his article, Jacobs wrote: “Such is the condition of every slave throughout the United States; he owns nothing—he can claim nothing. His wife is not his—his children are not his; they can be taken from him, and sold at any minute.” It seems he spent the second half of his life, the free half, trying to own something, whether it was his personal story, the plight of millions of other slaves, or even just his liberty. One can’t think of a further place from bondage on a plantation than the open seas, which is perhaps why Jacobs spent so many years aboard merchant ships.This book was painful to read yet I’m glad I spent some time with it. Jacobs story is one I’ll not soon forget.

This was a gift, and the person is very happy with it!

Highly recommend. This book contains a valuable perspective of a previously enslaved person.

What remarkable history! So very well-written. Everyone should read it.

So glad to have historical books written by freed black man.