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Introduction

I

n 1981, Vincent Harding published his classic study

entitled Th ere Is a River: Th e Black Struggle for Free-

dom in America. In it, Harding described the black

freedom struggle as a river, a “... a long, continuous move-

ment... sometimes powerful, tumultuous, and roiling

with life; at other times meandering and turgid, covered

with the ice and snow of seemingly endless winters, all

too oft en streaked and running with blood.”^1 For Harding,

the black struggle for freedom, justice, and equality was

not only natural, but inevitable and undying. Th us, it was

his heartfelt desire to honor and celebrate black liberation

and self-determination through rigorous scholarship. As

a historian, it was his responsibility, he argued, to illumi-

nate the “mysterious, transformative dance of life that has

produced the men and women, the ideas and institutions,

the visions, betrayals, and heroic dreams renewed in blood

that are at once the anguish and the glory of the river of

our struggle in this land.”^2 In Harding’s view, this intellec-

tual mission to fi nd meaning in suff ering and struggle—in

triumph and tribulation—was particularly relevant to the

black experience in America and was, he maintained, an

essential component to fully understanding the story of our

nation, our society, and our humanity. Similarly, historians

such as Sterling Stuckey and Margaret Washington have

also argued that black resistance and struggle were inevi-

table, and built upon this concept to illustrate the myriad

ways in which African Americans infused their activism

with culture, spirituality, and a deep, abiding connection to

their African heritage.^3

Th e Encyclopedia of African American History em-

braces these notions—the historical and contemporary in-

evitability of black resistance, and the infl uence of African

cultural resilience on the black liberation movement—and

explores them in four sections, arranged both chronologi-

cally and thematically.

Atlantic African, American, and

European Backgrounds to Contact,

Commerce, and Enslavement

Th e opening section is dedicated to the complex, intricate,

and painful story of the European/African encounter, the

rise of the transatlantic trade in humans, and the early en-

slavement of African peoples in the Americas. In keeping

with the larger theme of this study, section one interrogates

the role of both European and African elites in the develop-

ment and perpetuation of the trade, while simultaneously

illustrating the ingenious ways in which African peoples

resisted and fought against enslavement. As historian Jason

Young explains in his introductory essay, interactions be-

tween Europeans and Africans were usually “uneven and

coerced,” yet it is also clear that Africans—enslaved and

free—navigated the terrain with creativity, courage, and defi -

ance. Th us, section one chronicles the origins of the modern