Freedom Seekers

Fugitive Slaves in North America, 1800–1860

Bibliographic Data

ID5787969
AuthorsDamian Alan Pargas (Leiden University, corresponding author)
Year2021
Publication date2021-11-19
Open AccessYes
TypeBOOK
VenueFreedom Seekers (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherCambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/9781316832264
OpenAlexW4200569918
ISBN9781316832264
LanguageEN
Citations received6

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

Conceptualization · Diversity (politics) · Geography · Political science · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Law · Philosophy · Race, History, and American Society

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Open DOIOpen Access