Overview
In this fascinating book, Damian Alan Pargas introduces a new conceptualization of 'spaces of freedom' for fugitive slaves in North America between 1800 and 1860, and answers the questions: How and why did enslaved people flee to - and navigate - different destinations throughout the continent, and to what extent did they succeed in evading recapture and re-enslavement? Taking a continental approach, this study highlights the diversity of slave fight by conceptually dividing the continent into three distinct - and continuously evolving - spaces of freedom. Namely, spaces of informal freedom in the US South, where enslaved people attempted to flee by passing as free blacks; spaces of semi-formal freedom in the US North, where slavery was abolished but the precise status of fugitive slaves was contested; and spaces of formal freedom in Canada and Mexico, where slavery was abolished and runaways were considered legally free and safe from re-enslavement.
- | Author: Damian Alan Pargas
- | Publisher: Cambridge University Press
- | Publication Date: Oct 12, 2021
- | Number of Pages: 288 pages
- | Language: English
- | Binding: Hardcover
- | ISBN-10: 1107179556
- | ISBN-13: 9781107179554
