It is one of the great ironies of American labor history that enslaved workers toiled at a wider variety of skilled tasks than did their descendants who were free. Slave owners had an economic incentive to exploit the multifaceted talents of blacks in the craft shop as well as in the kitchen and field. But […]
Jacqueline Jones
Jacqueline Jones is professor of History at Brandeis University and a former MacArthur fellow. She is the author of American Work: Four Centuries of Black and White Labor.