Book title: Dred Scott's Revenge
Author: Judge Andrew P. Napolitano
Nashville, Thomas Nelson, 2009
Number of pages: 253

I'm deeply convicted that I wouldn't normally buy a book like this. I chose to review for Thomas Nelson Publishers and I'm glad I did. I learned much and I unlearned more.

I thought the terms "states rights" vs. "federal interventionism" were current political rhetoric. I always thought that this was current liberal vs. conservative (liberal being "federal interventionism" or "big government" and "states rights" being conservative). But this is the political language of slave owners "rights" vs. big abolitionist government. And when the an administration didn't want to step in and do the right thing concerning civil rights from Lincoln right up through JFK, they laid responsibility on the states. And many states, as we all know from fairly recent history, and one set of laws for white men, and separate codes for black.

I prejudged this book since I've seen Judge Napolitano often on Fox News. I expected this book to be the same kind of non-news propaganda pumped out by Fox News. But I found that Napolitano was more fair as an author than I am as a reader. Napolitano pulls no punches in this book. He gives the straight scoop on many of our political heroes. Men we've built monuments to and close banks and schools for were less pure than our school books portray. Napolitano is not cynical or unpatriotic, in fact, he is quite patriotic and just in his exposé of the double standard this country has governed by since its inception. Justice and reconciliation demand that one tells the truth about one's shortcomings. Our greatest sins cannot be swept under the carpet for the greater good. No good can come from wrongs glossed over, or worse, spun into something more palatable for mass consumption. Napolitano does his work well.

This book covers the topic of slavery, war, and the catastrophic consequences visited on every generation of Americans since our country's founding.

Napolitano demonstrates that the New World was founded and built on slavery. Christopher Columbus comments to his sponsors: "From here one might send, in the name of the Holy Trinity, as many slaves as could be sold."

Commonly accepted as a part of early (even current, occasionally) American Theology is "that God or nature selected the black race to do the labor in the harsh conditions of the Southern climate."
More humane states limited the flogging of slaves to only thirty-nine lashes. Sound familiar?

"The federal fugitive slave law allowed a master to claim a runaway slave even if he were found in a free state."

"President Andrew Jackson once offered a $50 reward for the capture of his fugitive slave and $10 extra for every hundred lashes any person would give the slave to the amount of $300."

Federally sponsored and/or permitted racism existed even in my lifetime both in the civilian and military realms. It's hard to believe that a black man was elected to the presidency in my lifetime. It demonstrates that there is hope for real race reconciliation in this country if people are willing to not be passive and vindictive.

I don't have room to get into what you will learn about the Great Emancipator Abraham Lincoln. Napolitano does the research and unearthed the documents punching holes in that rosy portrait.

I have to say again how impressed I was with the authors objectivity and balance. He had the opportunity to push other agendas and restrained himself. I was pleasantly surprised.

When you read the book (and you should), read the notes, acknowledgements and bibliography. Those, too, are impressive and thorough.

Excellent service and response again from Amazon. Haven't had a chance to start the book yet, but seems everything as advertised.
Bruce

I had an uneasy feeling when first exposed to American history in grade school. When taught about the Declaration of Independence and its acknowledgment that all are equal, I comprehended its natural law meaning. It only seemed logical that no one could be considered privileged by birth or social standing, how would it be otherwise? Nevertheless this understanding became problematic when I discovered how slavery and racism were integral in the founding and history of the United States, an obviously contradiction to the noble ideas that all have unalienable rights. This bothersome awareness has always troubled me, raising questions about virtue of the founding documents and leaders. These are the issues I found discussed in this book.

It seems the main theme Judge Napolitano has in all his books is the conflict of "Natural Law" vs. "Positivism", its as if there is nothing else to discuss when considering legal and constitutional issues. I find Positivism a troubling philosophy, its like being a little bit pregnant. Most people would accept the moral superior nature of personal freedom however are unwilling take it to its rational and legal conclusions. As a result societies develop in a double-minded, psychotic manner with a bizarre mixtures of restricted independence and oppressive limitations imposed by an ignorant and illegitimate government. Napolitano explains that slavery and racism are products of this practice. It was quite enlightening to learn of how politicians have used Positivistic means to perpetrate misanthropic legislation for personal and political advantage.

I was especially moved by the descriptions of the travails of Martin Luther King and Jackie Robinson, one can only be touched when considering the struggles they endured to enjoy the simple dignities that others take for granted. This book made me think much differently on the issue of race and on how an unlawful government can bring about such unnecessary suffering.

In Dred Scott's Revenge, Judge Anthony P. Napolitano has given us a tremendous insight into the history of race relations in the United States. In so doing, he destroys the myth of the state as the righter of wrongs in the mistreatment of those of African decent. In fact, he makes a strong case that the government was as supportive as anyone of the practice of slavery and would later produce the environment that led to the Jim Crow laws.

In examining the fallout of slavery in America, a practice that openly violated the very principles upon which the nation was founded, the author traces the development of the practice in the New World, the development of a slave based economy, the events leading to the Civil War, and the resulting drama of reconstruction and the imposition of a quasi-slave status for blacks in the South.

The role played by social activism - both of the secular and religious variety - are detailed as well as their motivations. As for the state, the author makes clear that the issue was never really slavery but the state's own survival. The freeing of the slaves was more a pragmatic decision to induce unrest in the South than it was to produce justice. Those slaves living in slave states that sided with the Union were to remain slaves.

There is also much insight into the mindset produced by such racism in an institutional form. The long term effect on African-Americans of state actions that make their very status in society dependent upon state action is one that never really acknowledges their own humanity independent of a governmental declaration. This can be seen in the sometimes willingness of some in the African-American community to believe the most bizarre conspiracy theories that make others question their sanity. Of course, when you have a history of the government actually conspiring against you, then new conspiracies will seem a lot saner.

It should be emphasized that Dred Scott's Revenge is neither a liberal nor a conservative book (endorsements by Juan Williams of NPR and Glenn Beck of Fox News should be enough evidence) and both sides will nod their heads in agreement in some places and feel a might uncomfortable in others. It is, however, an honest assessment of the history of race relations that should be read by all who wish to honestly engage the issue.