Working Toward Freedom

Slaves had, sometimes, the opportunity to produce their own goods. These studies demonstrate the importance of that economy in reinforcing family ties and preparation for freedom.

The opportunity for slaves to produce goods, for their own use or for sale, facilitated the development of a domestic economy largely independent of their masters and the wider white community. Drawing from a range of primary sources, these essays show how slaves organised their domestic economy and created an economic and social space for themselves under slavery which profoundly affected family and gender relations. In their efforts to protect the integrity of their families they became primary actors in their preparation for freedom. Selected and revised for publication, this collection of essays stems from the University of Rochester conference, "African-American Work and Culture in the 18th and 19th Centuries."

Contributors include: Josephine A. Beoku Betts, Kenneth L. Brown, John Campbell, Cheryll Ann Cody, Mary Beth Corrigan, Stanley, L. Engerman, Sharon Ann Holt, Larry E. Hudson Jr, Robert Olwell, Lorena S. Walsh