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Winthrop D. Jordan
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White over Black: American Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550-1812

by Winthrop D. Jordan (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars 26 ratings
A discussion of white racial attitudes from before the first Negroes set foot on American soil in 1619 to the present national situation
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  1. ISBN-10
    0807845507
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0807845509
  3. Publisher
    Univ of North Carolina Pr
  4. Publication date
    September 25, 1968
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 1.75 x 9.25 inches
  7. Print length
    651 pages
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There is a newer edition of this item:

White Over Black (A Pelican Book)
White Over Black (A Pelican Book)
$10.34
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Editorial Reviews

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A timeless classic and award-winning work on the history of race relations in early America.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Univ of North Carolina Pr (September 25, 1968)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 651 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0807845507
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0807845509
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.25 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.75 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 26 ratings

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Winthrop D. Jordan

Winthrop D. Jordan

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4.6 out of 5 stars
26 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • jerseyguy
    5.0 out of 5 stars I feel there is no better history covering this subject
    Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    I read this book over twenty years ago. So now I bought the first edition, hard cover, once again. I feel there is no better history covering this subject.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Price & Delivery.
    Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2020
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    Perfect Price. Excellent Delivery.
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  • Enrique R. Rodriguez
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2017
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    Great book
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  • KWDO
    3.0 out of 5 stars It's a fantastic anthology for the first European attitudes towards West Africans ...
    Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Okay this was written in the 60s by a European descendent, so be wary of the brainwashing language. It's a fantastic anthology for the first European attitudes towards West Africans and why they had the audacity to assume their supremacy, but they were invaders, not "voyagers." They were genocidal and ethnocidal maniacs, not "settlers." The sooner the world comes to terms with the complete abandonment of civilized society over the last 500 years, the sooner we can fix it.

    Good read. Be wary of some of the language used.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Elika
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Birth of Racial Attitudes from "First Impressions"
    Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2002
    Winthrop D. Jordan answers the question, "what were the attitudes of white men toward Negroes during the first two centuries of European and African settlement in what became the United States of America?" in his book, White Over Black: Attitudes Toward the Negro 1550-1812 (vii). Jordan answers this question comprehensively; his book is sectioned off chronologically into six parts. The first part covers the evolution of the American attitudes regarding the Negroes with references to English perspectives, interpretations, and hypotheses, and topics of enslavement. The second part, "Provincial Decades," involves topics on freedom and control in a slave society, interracial sex, and of the spiritual and physical nature of a Negro. This is followed with an overview on the revolutionary era in which the Americans impose self-scrutiny on their behavior. Part four, "Society and Thought," gives in-depth descriptions on economic interest and national identity, limitations of antislavery, revolution, and result of separation. The last section involves Thomas Jefferson's actions and his impact on society, the "chain of being of the Negro," erasing Nature's "Stamp of Color," and actions toward a white man's country. The organization of these topics demonstrates analytically to the reader the development of racial "attitudes" as time passes.
    Jordan's basic perspective of this issue was that slavery was not caused by racism or vice versa, these two factors both attributed to each other's development. This book is predominantly focused on how the Americans and their historical encounters formed and were fashioned by people different from themselves. The impression one seemed to receive upon reading this book was not biased, but of understanding and sympathy for both the whites and blacks; the author wished for equal treatment for the Negroes while having an accepting tone of the white's treatments of black people.
    The content of this work is mostly theoretical; Jordan used many opinions of white men, such as their initial expression after exposure to Negroes, and he described the outlooks of various religious groups, such as the Puritans and Quakers. Jordan's theorizing is also well rounded from many aspects, involving political, economic, social, and cultural perspectives of both the black and white men. These theories and facts are organized chronologically, which support the thesis effectively as the reader can see how the different racial attitudes develop over time.
    Jordan concludes that this debate over the Negro's racial standing stands within each white American's conscience. The cultural conscience of a white man insists the Negro be treated as his equal based on religious traditions and humanitarianism, whereas the strong feelings of domination and identity demanded the Negro be treated as inferior. He explains, "At a closer view, though, the duel appears more complex than a conflict between the best and worst in the white man's nature, for in a variety of ways the white man translated his `worst' into his `best'" (Jordan 582). This conclusion agrees with the thesis as he explains the behavior of white men understandingly, the slavery and racism coexisted as proof of the white domination.
    Winthrop D. Jordan has summed up many aspects of the subject of racial issues in one book with both perspectives of the white Americans and Negroes. I recommend this book to readers who wish to be enlightened with a deep historical analysis of an American dilemma on race.
    31 people found this helpful
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  • MR76
    5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended--especially the first half of the book.
    Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2004
    This book was written in 1968 during a time of tremendous turmoil concerning race and race relations, but this book is still valid for anyone interested in the development of slavery and race relations in North America. Granted, his work is not without flaws. Jordan seems to overemphasize the "unthinking decision" aspect of slavery, and sometimes he has a tendency to repeat himself, but this book should not be dismissed simply as "politically correct" unless one wants to dismiss the fact that, for some reason, slavery and segregation were a part of our history.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Wideawake
    4.0 out of 5 stars Classic
    Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    This is good scholarship. This book lives up to the promise identified in the title, including the subtitle. It does not promise to historicize the black American experience, nor does it do that. It is very useful in the context of its intended and stated purpose.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • John Longerbeam
    4.0 out of 5 stars couldent put it down
    Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 1999
    Winthrop D. Jordan wrote an extrudinary book on the culture of blacks in America."Long before they found that some men were black, Englishmen found in the idea of blackness a way of expressing some of their most ingrained values," historian Winthrop D. Jordan wrote in his 1968 book White Over Black. To the English, the color black meant something foul wicked, deadly, filthy and sinister. White denoted beauty, purity and virtue. English travelers to Africa commented at length on the Africans' lack of clothing, their "heathen" religious beliefs, their seemingly lusty nature. They described Negroes as "beastly," compared them to apes and speculated that their skin color was the manifestation of an ancient Biblical curse.
    21 people found this helpful
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