The Richmond Slave Trade: The Economic Backbone of the Old Dominion (American Heritage) Paperback – March 4, 2012

It becomes clearer everyday why there is a push not to teach our children the history of America . This book goes into details as to why the barbaric slave trade continued in America for so long, the role Richmond, Virginia played in the trade and sad to say, it was all about economics. The book is a quick and easy read, packed with information we all should know about our history.

I wasn't able to read the full book - because I gave it to my dad to read first, and he really liked it; and he told my grandma, and she was interested, so he gave it to her, and she kept it! So it's a very interesting book full of information on the trading of slaves in Richmond, VA. All Virginians should be aware of our past in the history of the slave trade. It was not only a deep south or trans-Atlantic atrocity; it was a local atrocity. I am grateful that Mr. Trammell has published this book, particularly at the same time that people were becoming aware of Shockoe Bottom. I've been there twice, and it's been made into a meditation spot. Before people became aware of Shockoe's Bottom history, it was going to be a parking lot.I'm giving the book five stars because it is timely, detailed, and sobering.

Yes, I'm one of the people who purchased Jack Trammel's book when I heard he was the Democratic contender for Eric Cantor's congressional seat.I had no idea that Richmond was such a player in slave trading well into the Civil War, or that the truth about it had been buried so successfully by later generations. Even while it was happening it was poorly documented. The most stunning pieces of documentation, reproduced in the book, are the etchings of slave auctions made by the personal secretary to William M Thackery, the celebrated British author. Thackery said at the time that his secretary had been imprudent, but the imprudence has proved to be history's gain.So, congratulations to Trammell. My quibble with his book is that it reads like a Ph.D dissertation, which it probably was.

Himself a Virginian, Trammell names names and locales in his examination of the vicious dehumanizing Richmond slave trade. He shows the economic impact on the citizens of Richmond who let their hired agents do the trading for them because they could face neither the brutality of the transactions nor the loss of profit for themselves. Extensive research with original documents and archived resource material. A short but powerful and insightful look at the past of the capitol of the Confederacy.

This book helps the unknowing get a much better understanding of why slavery was so divisive. The book also explains why many attempted, and some still do, to speak about why the Civil War was about states' rights, which is simply not true. The Civil War was about how some chose to go to war with other Americans rather than give up their most valuable property, unfortunately that most valuable property was human beings. In some ways, the Civil War is still being fought today!

This is a great source to have on hand when trying to recreate the Richmond Slave Trail. My tours of the Slave Trail are much better informed as a result of this scholarship.

A brief little book, but well written with surprising insights into the intertwined relationships of slave ownership, sales, and capital formation. It also helps to clarify the complex role of Northern capitalists and industrialists with the slave economy. Recommended highly.

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