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 3
... remained largely unchallenged until the 1990s when Susan M. Socolow used notarial records to test the validity of de Saint-Mery's find- ings. It was not surprising to learn that free women in Cap Francais, Saint Domingue, like free ...
... remained largely unchallenged until the 1990s when Susan M. Socolow used notarial records to test the validity of de Saint-Mery's find- ings. It was not surprising to learn that free women in Cap Francais, Saint Domingue, like free ...
Page 6
... remained fairly even during the seventeenth century. In 1664, there were twenty-nine females, twenty-eight males, and five per- sons whose gender was not recorded. Ten years later, there were thirty- eight women and thirty-six men. Only ...
... remained fairly even during the seventeenth century. In 1664, there were twenty-nine females, twenty-eight males, and five per- sons whose gender was not recorded. Ten years later, there were thirty- eight women and thirty-six men. Only ...
Page 7
... remained significantly smaller than the number of men throughout the seventeenth century . Incidentally , the pattern was no different in colonial Maryland where the ratio was two to three at the turn of the century.5 It is not ...
... remained significantly smaller than the number of men throughout the seventeenth century . Incidentally , the pattern was no different in colonial Maryland where the ratio was two to three at the turn of the century.5 It is not ...
Page 9
... remained in bondage while those born afterward were freed at twenty - eight years of age , 13 Between 1777 and 1804 , other states adopted similar statutes . New York granted unconditional freedom to blacks born before 1799 , but girls ...
... remained in bondage while those born afterward were freed at twenty - eight years of age , 13 Between 1777 and 1804 , other states adopted similar statutes . New York granted unconditional freedom to blacks born before 1799 , but girls ...
Page 10
... remained open and varied . For example , the French Revolution ( 1789–1799 ) , which touted “ Liberty , Equality , and Fraternity , ” was also responsible for growth in the free black population in the United States . Two years after ...
... remained open and varied . For example , the French Revolution ( 1789–1799 ) , which touted “ Liberty , Equality , and Fraternity , ” was also responsible for growth in the free black population in the United States . Two years after ...
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