The Cotton Kingdom

By Frederick Olmsted,

Book cover of The Cotton Kingdom: A Traveller's Observations On Cotton And Slavery In The American Slave States, 1853-1861

Book description

Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) is best known for designing parks in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Chicago, Boston, and the grounds of the Capitol in Washington. But before he embarked upon his career as the nation's foremost landscape architect, he was a correspondent for the New York Times , and it was under…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Cotton Kingdom as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I no longer remember how, around 2018, I discovered this remarkable 1850 travelogue and presentation of observations on slavery by the man most people know as a landscape architect. Before his landscaping, Olmstead was hired by the now New York Times to travel the South interviewing and recording all he could from whites, whether rich or poor, slave owners or not, and enslaved Blacks. An added treasure: I loved reading about his travel experiences by boat, horse, train, and stagecoach, as well as the challenges of finding places to overnight. 

The horrors of slavery come through without any preaching. I…

If you love The Cotton Kingdom...

Ad

Book cover of Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

Who Is a Worthy Mother? by Rebecca Wellington,

I grew up thinking that being adopted didn’t matter. I was wrong. This book is my journey uncovering the significance and true history of adoption practices in America. Now, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over women’s reproductive rights places…

Want books like The Cotton Kingdom?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Cotton Kingdom.

Browse books like The Cotton Kingdom

Book cover of The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South
Book cover of South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation
Book cover of The Family Tree: A Lynching in Georgia, a Legacy of Secrets, and My Search for the Truth

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,881

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like The Cotton Kingdom, you might also like...

Book cover of The Extraordinary Journey of David Ingram: An Elizabethan Sailor in Native North America

The Extraordinary Journey of David Ingram by Dean Snow,

An ordinary sailor named David Ingram walked 3600 miles from Mexico to Canada over the course of eleven months in 1568-9. There, he and two companions were rescued by a French ship on the Bay of Fundy. They were the first Englishmen to explore the interior of North America.

English…

Book cover of Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS

Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS by Amy Carney,

When I was writing this book, several of my friends jokingly called it the Nazi baby book, with one insisting it would make a great title. Nazi Babies – admittedly, that is a catchy title, but that’s not exactly what my book is about. SS babies would be slightly more…

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Slavery, slavery in the United States, and genealogy?

Slavery 310 books
Genealogy 33 books