REBECCA J. SCOTT: DEGREES OF FREEDOM

In the early and mid nineteenth century, the economies of both Louisiana and Cuba depended on the growing of sugar cane. In both areas, this industry was made possible by similar brutal systems of slavery. But after the American Civil War and after the prolonged war for Cuban independence, the political and social fates of the freed black slaves were incredibly different. How did Cuba develop a  more racially and culturally diverse culture and why  Louisiana’s state government systematically work to disenfranchise the freed black citizens from their voting rights?   Tune in tonight for a fascinating history of race and politics when we speak with REBECCA J. SCOTT, the Charles Gibson Distinguished University Professor of History and Professor of law at the University of Michigan.  Her important and dynamic new book is DEGREES OF FREEDOM: LOUISIANA AND CUBA AFTER SLAVERY.