A review by ameyawarde
The Dawn of Detroit: A Chronicle of Slavery and Freedom in the City of the Straits by Tiya Miles

4.0

I'm a history nerd who grew up in Ohio and this book made me realize how shallow my knowledge of Midwestern history actually is. Obviously I knew Detroit is a french word, and that the midwest was heavily peppered with French traders before British ones, but I definitely did not appreciate the depth of the French history in Detroit before this book. Nor did I know basically anything about the enslavement of Native peoples (other than that it happened), which was the major type of slavery in Detroit throughout its history (though African-American slavery definitely becomes a thing as well). Really, actually, this showed me how little I knew about the history of midwestern Native nations all together.

I'd def recommend this book for anyone interested in Midwestern history/culture, or the history of Native peoples or African-Americans in general.