Escaping Bondage

Reviews / Votes

Edited by Bly (Appalachian State Univ.), this collection of 18th-century runaway slave advertisements appeared in newspapers from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. Selections from the newspapers (variant titles are listed in a "Note on the Newspapers" section) are arranged alphabetically and chronologically. The editor endeavors to maintain the original wording of the notices, with reprints and supplementary, related materials listed at the end of the entries. Bly's introduction guides readers through the use of the 800-plus notices as history and biography. The illustrations include nine images from the original sources. The book concludes with Thomas Jefferson's argument on behalf of a mulatto runaway; a glossary of the local language used to describe clothing and other items; a comprehensive subject index; and a name index listed by the runaways and subscribers. As a compilation of runaway slave notices in early New England, this resource will be most valuable to students and scholars. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through researchers/faculty. * Choice Reviews * Escaping Bondage is an excellent addition to a growing number of transcribed and published eighteenth-century newspaper notices concerning runaway slaves. As the author points out, the advertisements are an invaluable source for understanding African American history. -- Loren Schweninger, University of North Carolina at Greensboro A highly useful and fascinating collection of colonial and early national New England fugitive slave notices. This brimming, detailed collection, replete with a state-of-the-field introduction, adds complexity and depth to understanding of slavery in the north. -- Graham Russell Gao Hodges, Colgate University The French philosopher Montaigne once commented that scholars sometimes ruin history because they 'chew our meat for us.' In this book, Antonio Bly provides meat that both non-specialists and specialists can masticate for themselves. Readers will find a rich trove of newspaper advertisements for runaways, which contain fascinating details about how slaves coped with the brutal institution of bondage and how they were able to carve out meaningful lives. This is a very valuable collection of records not just for African American Studies but for the light it sheds on American history as well. -- Billy G. Smith, Montana State University