We the People Bookshelf

In August 1839, Singbe-Pleh, a Mende tribesman, led his fellow African captives aboard the Spanish ship Amistad in a successful revolt. The Africans took over the ship but could not sail it back to Africa. They were captured and put on trial in Connecticut, initiating a chain of events that strained diplomatic relationships between the United States and Spain and intensified the bitter debate over the issue of slavery.

Unavailable for several years, Virginia Hamilton's award-winning companion to The People Could Fly traces the history of slavery in America in the voices and stories of those who lived it. Many Thousand Gone recounts the journey of African-American slaves to freedom via the underground railroad, an extended group of people who helped fugitive slaves in many ways. Leo and Diane Dillon's brilliant black-and-white illustrations echo the stories' subtlety and power, making this book as stunning to look at as it is to read.

Eleven-year-old Elijah is the first child born into freedom in Buxton, Canada, a settlement of runaway slaves just over the border from Detroit. He's best known in his hometown as the boy who made a memorable impression on Frederick Douglass. But things change when a former slave steals money from Elijah's friend, who has been saving to buy his family out of captivity in the South.