"For too long, African Americans have been left out of the story of the nation's founding, their voices absent from the memory and celebration of the creation of the American republic. Black Writers of the Founding Era--by far the richest and most expansive anthology of its kind ever assembled--restores these voices. The writings gathered here reveal the complexity and dynamism of African American life and culture in the period and show how the principles...

Well-known works including fables, folklore, fiction, drama, and more, by such authors as Aesop, Dickens, Tolstoy, Shakespeare, and Baldwin, are presented to teach virtues, including compassion, courage, honesty, friendship, and faith.