The First Emancipator: The Forgotten Story of Robert Carter, the Founding Father Who Freed His Slaves
Starred Review.On the most fundamental level, this work can be seen as an exploration of the "'gross imbalance' between promise and execution" that characterizes American culture. We hold the loftiest ideals of freedom and progress ("liberty and justice for all"; "no child left behind"), argues Levy, but more often than not, these ideals fall flat in practice. Levy presents a painstakingly rich portrait of an American who overcame this imbalance: Robert Carter. A contemporary of Jefferson and Washington, Carter has largely been forgotten by historians because he seems less heroic than these great men; nevertheless, he managed to do something that they and the other founding fathers-for all their greatness-could not: free his slaves with little or no material gain. In so doing, Levy argues, Carter provides an example of an unsung American hero: no tragic flaw of moral failing to set the glow of his great deeds in sharper relief, no titanic struggle on the stage of national politics to realize his ideals, simply a thoughtful man pushing himself in moments of private reflection to rid himself of the moral contradictions of his time. Levy does a wonderful job bringing Carter to life from the somewhat wooden written remains of his account ledgers, business journals and letters, reminding readers just how peculiar his life and his choices were by setting them in the context of the other great Virginians of his time. This well-written and thoroughly engaging book will certainly appeal to readers interested in the history of 18th- and 19th-century Virginia, but also to those interested in the history of slavery and racism in America and in historical biography.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.