Copper Sun

Copper Sun was a real eye-opener to the slave trade of the early years of the United States. Being a Pan-African Studies minor, I have taken many classes, read many books, and written many papers on the treatment of African-Americans during this time period. However, even though this book is a fictional work, it is the only book I have read that has been so personal with the treatment of slaves, describing Amari's feelings along with smells, sights and sounds of the slave trade. Most books I have read deal with the slave trade as a whole, describing the poor conditions in general, rather than going in depth and explaining them individually.

While the conditions of the slave trade along with simply the idea of slavery in general has always made me feel sick just thinking about it, this book really hit my emotions hard because it put an imaginary face on the treatment through Amari. I remember watching the mini-series Roots when i was in High School, and the way slavery was shown in the series seems very similar to how slavery and the slave trade was depicted in Shannon Drapers book.

As a whole, being very educated on the history of the slave trade, and even Fort Mose, i thought this book was very accurate in the description of the conditions and treatment of slaves. I do, however, wish that the ending of the book, when every person they encounter on their way to Fort Mose (Irish woman, doctor, Spanish soldier and the red-headed boy) was willing to help them, was more accurate. Given the time period and the setting, most people probably would not have helped them given the possible consequences of doing so, making this one of the most unbelieveable parts of the book.