It is painful that we have to re-inscribe the existence of Black pioneers on a history that has been too often whitewashed. Cox’s book is an important step forward in reframing the narratives of American history, and this book deserves to be more widely read.

Anna-Lisa Cox’s The Bone and Sinew of the Land: America’s forgotten Black Pioneers and the Struggle for Equality is both an important work of history and an often powerfully, emotionally compelling one. Not only would I highly recommend it to general readers, but I’d seriously hope that excerpts from it would be taught in public schools across America (since I know several teachers, I’ll be evangelizing for that personally).

The book’s subtitle tells you the core of what Cox is doing here. The subject as noted are early black pioneers up to about the mid-nineteenth century, mostly paying attention to the Northwest Territories (what would later become Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin). Using various sources, including census records, newspaper articles, letters, town and county records, and more, Cox details daily life in the territories but especially focusing on the constant struggle for freedom and the basic rights of citizenship.

One bit of history that may surprise some readers (it surprised me I freely confess) is just how liberal the frontier was in its earliest days, both formally and informally, in terms of rights for free blacks, who were often allowed to vote, own land, hold public office. Thanks to these laws and fair personal treatment, free blacks were able to amass both land and monetary wealth, as well as great respect in their communities. Sadly, this was short-lived as the territories began moving in the 1800s toward the sort of brutish, cruel, and repulsive laws that will sound sadly familiar (a trend that shows that while the arc of history bends toward the more progressive, toward “justice”, on smaller time-scales it can also and often does bend backwards) . Laws were passed barring the rights of citizenship—no voting, limiting land, restricting movement, etc. Not content with assaulting (both legalistically and literally via beatings, murders, burning, tar and feathering, etc.) their residents, the territories/new states also started passing laws trying to limit how many blacks could enter the territory and simply trying to bar any from moving in at all.

One of the best aspects of this book is the manner in which Cox zooms in and out. We get the “big picture,” more abstract view of events as she explains the laws, goes into the process of their passage, tells us how many families were affected and more. But all of that information runs the risk is coming at the reader from a removed, cold distance, making it simply “dead” history. To counter that possibility, Cox grounds all the abstract law and discussion of its impact in vividly detailed stories of real people. These are often told in a narrative style more akin to fiction and while some may quibble at the times she gets into the minds of these people, as if they were characters rather than historical figures, it brings all of this so much more strongly to life. This is what makes this book so compelling and why I think it should be required reading in schools, where too often student miss out on the idea that the things they read about involve real living people.

Another reason I believe this should be obligatory in schools is for its portrayal of early African-Americans as agents of their own fortune. Too often students are presented a picture of African-Americans as victims, as the cruelly oppressed, and then, as beneficiaries of action by the “good whites” who save them, whether in real life (white members of the Underground Railroad) or in fiction (Atticus Finch, for instance). Here me meet more than a few black men who didn’t wait to be passively “freed” by their masters, but who freed themselves by their own will and action—not just via escape but by amassing enough money to purchase their freedom. And then, to buy out their family as well—spouses, children, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters.

Just as we don’t often think of the Black gentleman farmer, or the black mayor or sheriff of a frontier town, we don’t think of slaves finding ways to buy their freedom and the freedom of those dear to them. That isn’t because they didn’t exist, but because they’ve been forgotten or, more cruelly, purposely erased. As Cox writes toward the end: “That does not mean the accomplishments of these free African-American pioneers should be ignored . . . these thousands of people, who over generations successfully rose on the land they worked and loved — they all serve recognition and remembrance . . . they should never be forgotten.”

No they shouldn’t. Read Cox’s book. Then tell others to read it. And if you know anyone who works in a school, push it on them as well. Bone and Sinew of the land is a good book, but more significantly, it’s an important and I’d say even necessary one.

"Still they planted; still they built churches, founded schools, married. Still they walked the long miles forward through their fields behind the plow. Still they hoped, even as the plight of prejudice and injustice infected the land and threaten to spoil everything they had grown." The author of this book is an historian focusing on the history of African Americans in the Midwest, but the scope of this book is much broader than that. She obviously did a great deal of research and the book covers the progress (and regression) of laws throughout the country governing the right to vote, own property, attend schools and basically enjoy the rights that white citizens have always taken as their own. These were accounts that I had not read before.

Sometimes the writing style annoyed me. I thought that too much was embellished or imagined. The author frequently used phrases like "he would have known", "they must have heard" or "must have anxiously awaited the news". And she assumed events: "Charles must have been gaunt when he courted Keziah, his clothes cinched tight and bunching around his waist, his bones sharp against her hands when they embraced." "As she stood there, Keziah would have heard her own breath in the stillness, watching that bright star that always hung low in the east..."

There was as odd mixture of history and snarky opinion. In a discussion of the American Colonization Society (ACS), a group supporting the removal of all people of African descent from the US, she wrote: "Of course, many of the men who started the ACS were also extreme pro-integrationists. They thought it a lovely thing to have their babies nursed at a black breast, to eat food grown and cooked by dark-skinned people, have African-descended women in their beds ... as they raped them. Of course, those people all had to be enslaved to be worthy of such integration." In a discussion of entrepreneurs: "Free Frank was brilliant at real estate transactions, and as he sold the land in New Philadelphia, often to whites, he bought another member of his family, bringing a whole new meaning to the term 'property flipping'."

The book contains an incredible amount of information, but I never did figure out how the book was organized. Each chapter starts with a quote but the chapters tend to veer off topic. However, there were chapters primarily devoted to education, slave hunters, the right to vote and violent attacks. There are no photographs in the book, which is a little disappointing. I would have liked to have seen some of these people who managed to prevail, despite the fact that so many others were trying to prevent them from succeeding.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Tells the true story of free African-American farmers’ struggles in early to mid-1800s.

The Northwest Territories of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin were initially free states where slavery was outlawed. As the area’s population grew, slavery was replaced by a lifetime of indentured servitude for many. Told through the eyes of one such free family, the book describes their struggles with the virgin farmland, neighbors, changing politics and harsh weather.

This well-researched tale is highly recommended for those interested in both African-American and midwestern history. 4 stars!

Thanks to Public Affairs and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

The Bone and Sinew of the Land: America's Forgotten Black Pioneers and the Struggle for Equality by Anna-Lisa Cox

I don’t know if I have ever even stopped to think of the existence of Black pioneers. The image of a pioneer that automatically comes to mind are the images that I’ve been shown: white men and women, with their children in tow making their way across the land like in the old game “Oregon Trail.” That’s the history I’ve always been shown in school. It wasn’t until I was much older that I learned of the atrocities committed against Native Americans on that march West. And it isn’t until now that I’m learning about the existence of the courageous Black men and women who settled in the Northwest Territory, cultivated the land and became successful farmers.

Hundreds of Free Black men and women chose to settle in the Northwest Territory. They owned hundreds of acres of land and for a while, the men even had the right to vote. They started families, braved the winters, started schools and churches all in the 1800s before the Civil War had ever been fought. They were always on guard, aware that some of the people moving in around them were weary of living near Black people. At times it was really rough, with those who were pro-slavery and anti-abolitionists moving in to different territories hoping to turn them into slave states. But those Free Black families like the Lyles, the Griers, the Hawkins, the Elliots and the Clemens fought for themselves and for the right for other Free Black people to settle into the different territories.

The Bone and Sinew of the Land tells the stories of some of the families that lived in the Northwest Territory in the 1800s. Cox defines what a successful landowning Black family was very early on in the book and then details the different situations that occurred. Now the narrative in the beginning of the book is like telling a story and that caught me off guard at first. Cox uses language like “may have,” “probably felt,” “could have,” while conveying the emotions of the settlers. I was expecting a straight forward, informational text, so I had to adjust to these parts of the narrative that intertwined with the more factual information. This book has a plethora of information regarding the lives of successful Black landowners. Cox details many of the different experiences and gives historical context throughout. Cox doesn’t shy away from the impact on Native Americans and acknowledges that they were the original settlers of the land and how they were impacted by the movements of everyone west. But the focus is on the Black pioneers and what they endured.

Overall this is a book that I highly recommend. I’m frustrated after reading it because it sheds a light on a part of history that should be more widely discussed but it interrupts the prevalent narrative that Black people are lazy and don’t want to work hard to make a living. These were prime examples of Free Black men and women, some born free, others escaped or bought their freedom, and they were working extremely hard to make a life for themselves. But racism, jealousy and greed constantly threatened their lives and livelihoods. This book details so many instances of these things happening. What we have historically is an erasure of that history. This book will help bring context and honesty to a hidden history.

An incredibly written,extremely important piece of history that was sadly overlooked. But no longer. I've known a little about the numerous African American pioneers but this book filled in the gaps of my knowledge. I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants a more inclusive recollection of how the northwest territories were settled.

"They not only wanted to abolish slavery, they wanted a better nation, a nation free of prejudice, a nation where all were equal. And so, they started with themselves and their school, hoping that they could lead their nation by example, showing the way forward on the frontier."

This book is meaty. There is a lot of information packed into the pages. That makes this book heavy. So be warned. I am not warning anyone off from the book – just prepare yourself to learn a lot. There is so much presented in this book that was not taught in school. Although, I am not surprised by any of the violence, nevertheless, some of the subject matter is shocking. Hatred is such an ugly thing. Ignorance is Ugly. Prejudice is ugly. It’s all here. But what is also here is courage, strength, determination and hope.

Again, there is so much that we are not taught in school, and I get that. There is only so much time which is why books such as this one are important, so we can educate ourselves. I will be honest, I knew nothing about freed slaves and/or escaped slaves being pioneers of the west. I knew they went north - it never occurred to me that they went west. I certainly learned a lot from this book-there is so information to take in - but in a good way.

“They used their position as free homesteading pioneers across this portion of the nation to assert their rights and push for change. As their numbers, their farms, and their communities grew, they refused to lie low, forcing an unavoidable conversation about equality, citizenship, and freedom.”

There are a lot of personal stories told in this book. I hoped that these sections would have been longer. The stories are used to show the day to day struggles and opposition that never let up for those searching for a better life. Black Pioneers shocked those who tried to keep them down by building successful communities, churches, schools and businesses.

“We inform our opposers that we are coming – coming for our rights-coming through the constitution of our common country-coming through the law- and relying upon God and the justice of our cause, pledge ourselves never to cease our resistance to tyranny, whether it be in the iron manacles of the slave, or in the unjust written manacles for the free.”

This is a history book with a lot of information. The Author did a tremendous amount of research and it showed. American History buffs this is the book for you! This book is well written, informative, moving, and educational.

Thank you to Perseus Books, PublicAffairs and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This historical work was definitely eye-opening, and not just because until now I knew nothing about the incredible struggles of the numerous black pioneers that built lives in the old northwest territories of the United States. In detailing the challenges that these men and women faced, Cox extensively covers the rampant prejudice amongst much of the white populace in the lands above the Mason-Dixon Line that spawned most of said challenges. While the lion’s share of this focus goes to the states that now form the modern-day Midwest, Cox also writes of similar racist violence and prejudiced laws in other northern states. This in turn lead to some of the most shocking moments for me when I read about several ugly events that occurred in my home state of Connecticut that I was completely ignorant about.

This a excellent book for anyone looking to broaden their knowledge of American history. I guarantee that it will fill in no less than severals knowledge gaps that you most assuredly have.