Freedom seekers : fugitive slaves in North America, 1800-1860 / Damian Alan Pargas.

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2022.

1 online resource (xii, 297 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

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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.

Cambridge core frontlist 2021.

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English

December 17, 2021