Inheriting the Trade: A Northern Family Confronts Its Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading Dynasty in U.S. History

by Thomas Norman DeWolf

Book Overview

A trailblazing memoir about one family's quest to face its slave-trading past, and an urgent call for reconciliation

In 2001, Thomas DeWolf discovered that he was related to the most successful slave-trading family in U.S. history, responsible for transporting at least ten thousand Africans. This is his memoir of the journey in which ten family members retraced their ancestors' steps through the notorious triangle trade route--from New...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807072826
• ISBN13: 9780807072820
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Leadership shows

Tom DeWolf has been a leader in his community for many years. Perhaps this is one of the interesting things about INHERITING THE TRADE. There are insights here. Parallels, if you will. A wealthy, powerful, intelligent family from another era and a unique individual who almost instinctively and unconsciously has performed a sort of redemption for his families past through public service. In my novels I have always been fascinated by what I call the 'genetic memories' of my characters as they play out in their disciplines and actions. This is where I enjoyed most the passages in this historical piece. Looking at the man and the descendants as they are and the family and their circumstances as they were. It's a good read. Thought provoking.

For me the truth lies somewhere in between.

Most people who have taken the time to review Thomas DeWolf's "Inheriting The Trade: A Northern Family Confronts Its Legacy as the Largest Slave Trading Dynasty in U.S. History" give this book extremely high marks. Reviewer Linda Pagliuco begs to differ. She deemed the book worthy of a mere two stars and opined that the book "reminds me of those self-indulgent, melodramatic "encounter groups" that were so popular in the 1970's. Let's beat up on each other for things we never did, just for being who we are." This is a fair point but I cannot dismiss this story altogether. Rather, I applaud the DeWolf family for participating in this ambitious project with the goal of discovering for themselves the horrible truths surrounding how the family fortune was made. In documenting the group's emotional journey from Bristol RI to West Africa and then back to Cuba, Thomas Dewolf offers his readers unique insights into how the nasty business of the Triangle Trade was conducted. Even though I have read a couple of other books on the slave trade I found that "Inheriting The Trade" presents this sordid tale of human misery from a very intimate perspective that I simply have not found anywhere else. They called themselves the "Family of Ten". The members of the DeWolf family who participated in this project hailed from points all over the nation. Author Thomas Dewolf resides in Bend, OR and had never met any of the family members before. The group met for the very first time in Bristol, RI in July 2001 at the behest of Katrina Browne and over the next several weeks would embark on an adventure that would change them all forever. One of the objectives of the project was to produce a documentary film about the experience they were all about to share. Over the next few weeks the group would retrace the exact path of the Triangle Trade. Being a native Rhode Islander I was stunned to learn that more than half of all the slave trade voyages made from North America during this period originated from our tiny state. The book chronicles the group's trip to Ghana on the west coast of Africa where the slave trade thrived for so many years. The description of the conditions that these African men and women were forced to endure while waiting to be transported to Cuba and other destinations in the West can only be described as heartbreaking. Meanwhile, the same can be said for the deplorable conditions on the ships as well. While there was a pretty significant mortality rate amongst both the slaves and the ships crews it is truly amazing that more people did not die on these voyages. From Ghana the group moved on to the island of Cuba where they visited the locations of some of the DeWolf family plantations. Not much remains but all found it to be a very emotional experience. Although it took several years to complete the documentary film "Traces of the Trade: A Story From The Deep North" was finally released in 2006. Although I have not yet seen it myself I have been told

Life-changing for the author, eye-opening for me

I thought this book was fascinating. Here's this white guy from Oregon who grew up in a middle-class family in California without much knowledge of his family history. He moves to Oregon, to an affluent, largely white town, where he encounters a distant cousin. Suddenly, he's thrust into a huge extended family with long ties to New England. Slave traders! His forebears were slave traders? Does he want to be in a documentary about the slave trade? Does he want to go to Rhode Island, Ghana, and Cuba to retrace the route of the triangle trade?* He does, and in the process his eyes are opened to places and ways of living he knew nothing about - and this includes not only the African and Cuban cultures but also that of privileged New Englanders. What an amazing set of events! The author weaves together his own deep changes with description and reflection on the history of the slave trade and its continuing impact on our still racist society. The big idea is that white people in America are largely unaware of our own unearned privilege, and that becoming aware is one step in beginning the change to erasing racism. This book shows that it's a one-person-at-a-time effort, difficult but not impossible. *Traces of the Trade, by Katrina Browne, Thomas DeWolf's 7th cousin once removed, if I read the genealogical chart correctly.

Not Your Ordinary Ancestors

Many middle-aged people and those older get an urge to find out more about their parents, grandparents, and other ancestors. For most of those amateur genealogists, a little knowledge is enough. They're satisfied with collecting information about names, places, and dates of their ancestors' births, marriages, and deaths. Some family researchers delve deeper. Occasionally one even writes a book about his discoveries. Usually the books are ho-hummers interesting only to family members. Tom Dewolf got the genealogy bug and wrote a book but his "Inheriting the Trade" is far better than the usual. It's captivating. Part is due to DeWolf's collateral ancestors having been in the African-American slave trade, part is because DeWolf's done his research, and part is because he tells a good story. The tale starts out with DeWolf meeting cousins at a family reunion in Rhode Island. Soon we learn that they have slave trade ancestors and quickly James DeWolf, "a true scoundrel in every way," is mentioned. "He was a slave trader, rum runner, and privateer," says one cousin. Other DeWolfs are named and discussed. Then, with Tom's interest whetted and ours, too, DeWolf is off to find out more and tell us about his investigations of the mottled sheep in his past. "Inheriting the Trade" is a book worth buying and reading.

An amazing book that is not to be missed!

I have to admit that before this book, I never really thought about the effects that slavery has on our lives today. I always thought about it as this awful thing that happened before I was born. The journey of this family is truly inspiring. It is amazing to read not only the reactions of the family, but also the reactions of others to them. It's intriguing to read about what this family went through and one person's personal journey into a horrific piece of family, and American, history. One of my favorite parts of this book was just before they were going to Africa and a cousin admited that one of his greatest fears was that it wouldn't come alive for him and his other fear was that it would. This book was that, for me. Through the eyes and words of Thomas DeWolf, it came alive for me. For that, I am grateful.