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Melvin Patrick Ely, 'Israel on the Appomattox' Before the civil war, Thomas Jefferson's cousin Richard Randolph left land he owned in Virginia to dozens of freed slaves. Those former slaves went on to build new lives alongside their white neighbors, a community that became known as "Israel Hill." NPR's Tavis Smiley explores the so-called "promised land" with Melvin Patrick Ely, author of Israel on the Appomattox: A Southern Experiment in Black Freedom from the 1790s Through the Civil War.

The Tavis Smiley Show

The Tavis Smiley Show ended on December 16, 2004.

Melvin Patrick Ely, 'Israel on the Appomattox'

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Melvin Patrick Ely, 'Israel on the Appomattox'

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Before the civil war, Thomas Jefferson's cousin Richard Randolph left land he owned in Virginia to dozens of freed slaves. Those former slaves went on to build new lives alongside their white neighbors, a community that became known as "Israel Hill." NPR's Tavis Smiley explores the so-called "promised land" with Melvin Patrick Ely, author of Israel on the Appomattox: A Southern Experiment in Black Freedom from the 1790s Through the Civil War.