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African American History Publisher's Note This three-volume contribution to the Magill's Choice series offers comprehensive coverage of the history of African Americans in the United States from their first arrival in British North America in 1619 through the present day. The set's alphabetically arranged essays cover the full sweep of the rich history of African Americans, with articles on the major economic, political, social, and cultural events and developments of nearly four centuries. About one-half of the 293 essays in African American History are taken from Salem's Racial and Ethnic Relations. The rest come from ten other Salem reference sets, most notably, Great Events from History: North American Series, Great Events from History II: Human Rights, Encyclopedia of the U.S. Supreme Court, and The Sixties in America. The set also includes about 12 newly commissioned articles and a biographical directory with entries on more than 100 notable figures in African American history. Essays range in length from less than 200 to more than 3,000 words and average of nearly 1,000 words each. The diverse subject matter ranges from the origins of the peoples who make up the modern African American population to the impact of African Americans on present-day American culture and society. Just as the history of African Americans has been dominated by struggles for freedom and equal rights, the articles in African American History emphasize the histories of slavery (25 essays), the abolitionist movement (11), and civil rights (56). There are also 33 essays on topics relating to discrimination and 26 essays on voting rights. Other subject areas include arts and entertainment (9 essays), crime and punishment (14), demographics (12), economic issues (10), education (21), military history (10), Black nationalism (13), politics and government (12), the Reconstruction era (18), religion (9), riots and civil disturbances (14), and women's issues (8). The history of the African American struggle for equal rights is closely tied to legal history and U.S. Supreme Court decisions. With the set's emphasis on rights issues, it should not be surprising that 71 of the essays are on specific Court decisions and another 24 are on federal laws. There are also 113 essays on specific events and eras, 42 on organizations and government agencies, and 50 on such broad subjects as demographics, economic history, the entertainment industry, integration, literature, the military, music, and politics and government. The alphabetical arrangement of the essays enable readers to find topic quickly, and the set offers a variety of additional features to make it easy to find topics: cross-references at the end of each essay, detailed personage and general subject indexes, and lists of topics by both subject categories and dates. In addition to the Biographical Directory, the appendix section at the end of volume 3 includes an extensive and up-to-date Bibliography and a Time Line of African American history. |
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