The Essence of Liberty: Free Black Women During the Slave EraUniversity of Missouri Press, 2006 - 290 pages Before 1865, slavery and freedom coexisted tenuously in America in an environment that made it possible not only for enslaved women to become free but also for emancipated women to suddenly lose their independence. Wilma King now examines a wide-ranging body of literature to show that, even in the face of economic deprivation and draconian legislation, many free black women were able to maintain some form of autonomy and lead meaningful lives. The Essence of Liberty blends social, political, and economic history to analyze black women's experience in both the North and the South, from the colonial period through emancipation. Focusing on class and familial relationships, King examines the myriad sources of freedom for black women to show the many factors that, along with time spent in slavery before emancipation, shaped the meaning of freedom. Her book also raises questions about whether free women were bound to or liberated from gender conventions of their day. Drawing on a wealth of untapped primary sources--not only legal documents and newspapers but also the diaries, letters, and autobiographical writings of free women--King opens a new window on the world of black women. She examines how they became free, educated themselves, found jobs, maintained self-esteem, and developed social consciousness--even participating in the abolitionist movement. She considers the stance of southern free women toward their enslaved contemporaries and the interactions between previously free and newly freed women after slavery ended. She also looks closely at women's spirituality, disclosing the dilemma some women faced when they took a stand against men--even black men--in order to follow their spiritual callings. Throughout this engaging history, King underscores the pernicious constraints that racism placed on the lives of free blacks in spite of the fact that they were not enslaved. The Essence of Liberty shows the importance of studying these women on their own terms, revealing that the essence of freedom is more complex than the mere absence of shackles. |
From inside the book
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Page 1
... enslaved sisters, left a cornucopia of legal documents, manuscripts, newspaper commentaries, poems, diaries, letters, and autobiographies. Statistical reports and registers containing data about free blacks are also available. These are ...
... enslaved sisters, left a cornucopia of legal documents, manuscripts, newspaper commentaries, poems, diaries, letters, and autobiographies. Statistical reports and registers containing data about free blacks are also available. These are ...
Page 2
... enslaved female contemporaries to secure their own freedom, and did their northern contemporaries meld their inter- ests with those of enslaved women to help them gain freedom? Color, class, and gender distinctions were often blurred ...
... enslaved female contemporaries to secure their own freedom, and did their northern contemporaries meld their inter- ests with those of enslaved women to help them gain freedom? Color, class, and gender distinctions were often blurred ...
Page 3
... enslaved sisters and fight for their freedom? Or did they hold themselves aloof from their bonded contemporaries to better secure their own liberty? The literature necessary for answering these questions is uneven at best. Similarly ...
... enslaved sisters and fight for their freedom? Or did they hold themselves aloof from their bonded contemporaries to better secure their own liberty? The literature necessary for answering these questions is uneven at best. Similarly ...
Page 4
... enslaved or had relatives and friends remaining in bondage made opposition to their participation imprudent. Many free women, like free black men and white women and men, supported the abolitionist movement and helped newly freed women ...
... enslaved or had relatives and friends remaining in bondage made opposition to their participation imprudent. Many free women, like free black men and white women and men, supported the abolitionist movement and helped newly freed women ...
Page 5
... enslaved. As a result, enslaved and emancipated Africans coexisted in colonial America. Such circumstances raise several questions, among which two will be dis-. 5.
... enslaved. As a result, enslaved and emancipated Africans coexisted in colonial America. Such circumstances raise several questions, among which two will be dis-. 5.
Contents
1 | |
5 | |
33 | |
3 The Pursuit of Happiness | 59 |
4 Knowledge is power | 89 |
5 Whom do you serve God or man? | 116 |
6 Female sympathy in the cause of freedom and humanity | 141 |
7 The Civil War and Emancipation | 170 |
Notes | 197 |
Bibliography | 241 |
Index | 283 |
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Abolition abolitionist African American African American Women Antebellum antislavery Archives Autobiography Berlin bondage Brown Census Charleston Charlotte Forten Charlotte Forten Grimké church City Civil County Court Darlene Clark Hine daughter economic Edited Eliza Elizabeth Ellen emancipated enslaved women Family Female Frances E. W. Harper Frederick Douglass free black women Free Negro free persons free women free-born freed freedom fugitives Georgia Harriet Jacobs Harriet Tubman hereafter cited History husband Ibid James Jarena Lee John Johnson Keckley liberty lived Louisiana loved Lower South manumissions Maria Mary Ann Shadd Mississippi Missouri mother mulatto Nineteenth-Century North Orleans owners Papers Pennsylvania Petitions Philadelphia Political population preach Primus Race racial Rebecca Jackson religious Roark Sisters slave-born slaveholding slaveowners Slavery Slaves Without Masters social Society Sojourner Truth South Carolina Southern spiritual Statutes Sterling Stewart teachers Texas tion U.S. Army United University Press Washington white women William Wilma King woman wrote York