Begin the World Over is a counterfactual novel about the Founders’ greatest fear—that Black and Indigenous people might join forces to undo the newly formed United States of America—coming true.In 1793, as revolutionaries in the West Indies take up arms, James Hemings has little interest in joining the fight for liberté—talented and favored, he is careful to protect his relative comforts as Thomas Jefferson’s enslaved chef. But when he meets Denmark Vesey, James i...

Begin the World Over is a counterfactual novel about the Founders’ greatest fear—that Black and Indigenous people might join forces to undo the newly formed United States of America—coming true. Characters are, by and large, real people, acting within the bounds of available evidence. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is intentional.In 1793, as revolutionaries in the West Indies take up arms, James Hemings has little interest in joining the fight f...