Examines the presence of Africans in America from 1526, when the slaves of a Spanish expedition rebelled and settled among local Native Americans.

Chronology -- The African homelands -- Life in the West African grasslands -- Life in the forest regions of West and Central Africa -- The East Atlantic slaving system -- The Middle Passage and beyond -- Black life in the non-English borderlands -- The Spanish territories -- The French borderlands -- Black life in the English North American colonies -- Moving toward racial slavery -- New England -- New York and the middle colonies -- The Chesapeake -- The lower South -- The Native American frontier -- A new African American culture -- New ways in the New World -- Colonial black religion, old and new -- African American arts -- Work and celebration in the African American style -- The struggle toward freedom -- "Til he is well scraped" -- A heritage of resistance -- From Revolution to partial emancipation -- Looking forward: new directions in a new nation.