This revised edition charts Detroit's bitter history of race and class violence, and its particular effect on the city today.

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)

Using primary and secondary sources, Wilma Henrickson assembles a collection of documents related to decisive moments in the history of Detroit and the region, spanning the time from before statehood to the present. These were turning points for the region—life for the residents took a new direction, definitely closing off some options while accepting others. Some were brought about by accident; others were made by conscious decision. The consequences of some decisions were immediate, others appeared only after the accumulation of years. Among Henrickson's recurring themes are the destruction of the environment and its natural beauty, the lure of wealth, urban expansion and sprawl and civil rights. Selections include Lewis Cass' position paper on "Indian Removal," Jorge de Castellanos' article of "Black Slavery in Early Detroit," and excerpts from the writings of historian and mapmaker Silas farmer.

In the 1920s, Henry Ford hired thousands of African American men for his open-shop system of auto manufacturing. This move was a rejection of the notion that better jobs were for white men only. In The Making of Black Detroit in the Age of Henry Ford, Beth Tompkins Bates explains how black Detroiters, newly arrived from the South, seized the economic opportunities offered by Ford in the hope of gaining greater economic security. As these workers came to realize that Ford's anti-union "American Plan" did not allow them full access to the American Dream, their loyalty eroded, and they sought empowerment by pursuing a broad activist agenda. This, in turn, led them to play a pivotal role in the United Auto Workers' challenge to Ford's interests. In order to fully understand this complex shift, Bates traces allegiances among Detroit's African American community as reflected in its opposition to the Ku Klux Klan, challenges to unfair housing practices, and demands for increased and effective political participation. This groundbreaking history demonstrates how by World War II Henry Ford and his company had helped kindle the civil rights movement in Detroit without intending to do so.

Includes extra sessions.

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