Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Maps and Figures
- Introduction
- 1 From Colonization to Abolition: Patterns of Historical Development in Brazil, Cuba, and the United States
- 2 The Diversity of Slavery in the Americas to 1790
- 3 Slaves in Their Own Words
- 4 Slave Populations
- 5 Economic Aspects
- 6 Making Space
- 7 Resistance and Rebellions
- 8 Abolition
- Bibliography
- Index
- Plate section
6 - Making Space
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Maps and Figures
- Introduction
- 1 From Colonization to Abolition: Patterns of Historical Development in Brazil, Cuba, and the United States
- 2 The Diversity of Slavery in the Americas to 1790
- 3 Slaves in Their Own Words
- 4 Slave Populations
- 5 Economic Aspects
- 6 Making Space
- 7 Resistance and Rebellions
- 8 Abolition
- Bibliography
- Index
- Plate section
Summary
From the moment of enslavement, and throughout the entire tragic history of slavery, the one driving aspiration shaping the life experiences of slaves was the desire to be free men and women. Irrespective of where and when they lived as slaves, the dream of freedom for themselves and their families, however difficult or unlikely that may have been, was at the forefront of their objectives as human beings. When the real possibilities of acquiring freedom were remote and improbable, slaves asserted their humanity and insisted upon being treated with respect and dignity in the most adverse of all human conditions. Despite their dreadful positions as chattel, slaves struggled to negotiate the terms of their daily lives, even within the confines of slavery. They were not passive victims of oppression but sought to exert as much control as possible over their lives in a wide variety of ways. This aspect of the slave experience should not be glamorized or romanticized. In most cases, despite their efforts, intentions, and hopes, slaves were cruelly treated, separated from family members, abused in a variety of ways, and were unable to mitigate the basic conditions of brutality that governed their lives.
That, however, does not mean that they simply accepted perpetual servitude and the inevitable abuse and degradation that accompanied enslavement. Slaves sought to shape their lives to the greatest degree possible and demanded as much respect as could be extracted from masters, overseers, free workers who sometimes labored alongside them, and their fellow slaves.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007