"Coatesville." John Jay Chapman. 1912.

10-second review: Expresses his horror and rage at the burning of a black man in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, while hundreds of white onlookers did nothing.

Quote: “The only reason that slavery is wrong is that it is cruel and makes men cruel and leaves them cruel.” p. 73.

Comment: I live less than five miles from Coatesville. I had never heard of this monstrous behavior. Ninety-seven years later, I'm shocked. RayS.

Best American Essays of the Century. Editors: Oates and Atwan. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. 2000.