Roots: The Saga of an American Family Allusions & Cultural References

When authors refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.

Historical References

  • Sundiata (16.15, referenced throughout)
  • Sogolon, the Buffalo Woman (16.17)
  • Oba of Benin (24.12)
  • Alexander the Great (24.20)
  • Sy Gilliat (53.11)
  • Crispus Attucks (56.5)
  • George Leile (56.10)
  • Patrick Henry (56.14)
  • William Dawes (56.15)
  • Paul Revere (56.15)
  • George Washington (56.16, referenced throughout)
  • Lord Dunmore (56.25)
  • General Cornwallis (56.36)
  • Billy Flora (56.41)
  • George Middleton (56.46)
  • Thomas Jefferson (56.50, referenced throughout)
  • John Adams (64.18, referenced throughout)
  • Benjamin Rush (66.1)
  • James Derham (66.1, referenced throughout)
  • Toussaint Louverture (72.22, referenced throughout)
  • Julius Caesar (72.22)
  • Alexander Hamilton (75.16, referenced throughout)
  • Gabriel Prosser (77.9)
  • Aaron Burr (78.1)
  • Sally Hemings (78.4)
  • Benjamin Banneker (79.29)
  • Prince Hall (79.31)
  • Napoleon (79.33, referenced throughout)
  • Robert Fulton (88.30)
  • Davy Crockett (88.30, referenced throughout)
  • Daniel Webster (88.30)
  • Denmark Vesey (91.4)
  • Andrew Jackson (95.63)
  • Chief Osceola (100.2)
  • General Santa Anna (100.3, referenced throughout)
  • Martin Van Buren (100.4)
  • General Winfield Scott (100.7)
  • James Polk (102.51)
  • Zachary Taylor (102.51)
  • Stephen Foster (102.54)
  • Frederick Douglass (102.58)
  • Sojourner Truth (102.59)
  • Harriet Tubman (102.62)
  • Stephen Douglas (102.65, referenced throughout)
  • James Buchanan (107.8)
  • Jefferson Davis (110.30)
  • Giles Mebane (110.33)
  • John Ellis (110.42)
  • Robert E. Lee (110.42)
  • General Stonewall Jackson (111.49)
  • General Sherman (113.1)
  • General Ulysses S. Grant (113.5)
  • Reverend Sylus Henning (114.37)
  • Malcolm X (118.27)
  • Colonel O'Hare (120.52)
  • George Washington Carver (120.73)

Pop Culture References

  • Miles Davis (118.27)