
Slave No More
Self-Liberation Before Abolitionism in the Americas
Aline Helg(Author)
The University of North Carolina Press
Published on 30. March 2019
Book
Hardback
360 pages
978-1-4696-4962-7 (ISBN)
Description
Commanding a vast historiography of slavery and emancipation, Aline Helg reveals as never before how significant numbers of enslaved Africans across the entire Western Hemisphere managed to free themselves hundreds of years before the formation of white-run abolitionist movements. Her sweeping view of resistance and struggle covers more than three centuries, from early colonization to the American and Haitian revolutions, Spanish American independence, and abolition in the British Caribbean. Helg not only underscores the agency of those who managed to become ""free people of color"" before abolitionism took hold but also assesses in detail the specific strategies they created and utilized.
While recognizing the powerful forces supporting slavery, Helg articulates four primary liberation strategies: flight and marronage; manumission by legal document; military service, for men, in exchange for promised emancipation; and revolt-along with a willingness to exploit any weakness in the domination system. Helg looks at such actions at both individual and community levels and in the context of national and international political movements. Bringing together the broad currents of liberal abolitionism with an original analysis of forms of manumission and marronage, Slave No More deepens our understanding of how enslaved men, women, and even children contributed to the slow demise of slavery.
While recognizing the powerful forces supporting slavery, Helg articulates four primary liberation strategies: flight and marronage; manumission by legal document; military service, for men, in exchange for promised emancipation; and revolt-along with a willingness to exploit any weakness in the domination system. Helg looks at such actions at both individual and community levels and in the context of national and international political movements. Bringing together the broad currents of liberal abolitionism with an original analysis of forms of manumission and marronage, Slave No More deepens our understanding of how enslaved men, women, and even children contributed to the slow demise of slavery.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chapel Hill
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
6 halftones, 2 graphs
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
780 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4696-4962-7 (9781469649627)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
02/2019
The University of North Carolina Press
€22.49
Available for download
Persons
Aline Helg is professor of history at the University of Geneva and author of Our Rightful Share and Equality in Caribbean Colombia, 1770-1835.
Lara Vergnaud is a French-English translator based in Washington, D.C.
Lara Vergnaud is a French-English translator based in Washington, D.C.