Courtship and Love among the Enslaved in North Carolina (Margaret Walker Alexander Series in African American Studies)

148 Pages·2007·1.6 MB·English

by  Rebecca J. Fraser

Courtship and Love among
the Enslaved in North Carolina

and
COURTSHIP LOVE
the
AMONG ENSLAVED
in
NORTH CAROLINA
Rebecca J. Fraser
University Press of Mississippi
Jackson
Margaret Walker Alexander Series
in African American Studies
www.upress.state.ms.us
The University Press of Mississippi is a member of the
Association of American University Presses.
Copyright © 2007 by University Press of Mississippi
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
First printing 2007
∞
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Fraser, Rebecca J., 1978–
Courtship and love among the enslaved in North Carolina /
Rebecca J. Fraser.
p. cm. — (Margaret Walker Alexander series in
African American studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-934110-07-2 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-934110-07-8 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. S laves— North
Carolina— Social life and customs—19th century. 2. Love—
North Carolina— History—19th century. 3. Courtship— North
Carolina— History—19th century. 4. Slaves— North Carolina—
Biography. 5. Couples— North Carolina— Biography. 6. African
Americans— North Carolina— Social life and customs—19th
century. 7. African Americans— North Carolina— Biography.
8. Plantation life— North Carolina— History—19th century.
9. North Carolina— Social life and customs—19th century.
10. North Carolina— Biography. I. Title.
E445.N8F73 2007
306.73′4086250975609034—dc22
2007014886
British Library Cataloging- in- Publication Data available
For Derek

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 3
1
“Love Seems with Them More to be an Eager Desire”:
Racialized Stereotypes in the Slaveholding South 22
2
Asking Master Mack to Court:
Competing Spheres of Infl uence 32
3
Getting Out to Play and Courting All They Pleased:
The Social and Temporal Geographies of Enslaved Courtship 52
4
Taking a Whipping for Lily:
Courtship as a Narrative of Resistance 69
5
A Red Satin Ribbon Tied around My Finger:
The Meaning of the Wedding Ceremony 88
Conclusion 101
Notes 105
Bibliography 123
Index 133

Acknowledgments
This book would probably never have begun, and defi nitely would never
have been fi nished, if it were not for the persistence and motivation of
Rebecca Earle and Cecily Jones. They have both cast critical eyes over every
aspect of this research when it was in its embryonic form, and I am forever
thankful that they forced me to constantly question, reconsider, and revise my
thoughts— I have come to realize that this is a necessary and valuable, although
extremely painful, aspect of any research project. For your intellectual stimula-
tion and for encouraging my insights I offer you my thanks.
This research has been enriched by valuable conversations and seminar dis-
cussions with numerous members of staff and students located at the Univer-
sity of East Anglia, Warwick, and York. Special thanks are given to Emily West,
Tim Lockley, and Henrice Altink, who have provided thoughtful and refl ective
encouragement throughout the writing of this book. I also want to thank John
David Smith and Charles Joyner for forcing me to refl ect more critically on my
analysis and to develop a deeper empathy with those I was researching.
So many people have left their mark on me throughout my life and none
more than individuals who through their love of teaching are able to change the
way people think about themselves and the world they live in. Carol Miles was
one such woman. It is a bitter irony that those such as Carol, who have so many
important and valuable things to say, are taken away from us far too soon. Her
ability to face everything that life threw at her was an inspiration to all who had
the privilege of meeting her. I know that Carol would have thought that this
reference to her was “bloody soft,” but she’d be secretly chuffed that one of her
students had made it this far. This book is my proof that I listened to what she
said and have never rested on my laurels.
I seemed to have spent most of my time during my research visits to North
Carolina bothering archivists for some reason or another. The staff and graduate
students at Duke’s Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collections Library and
the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina were a
crucial and invaluable aid for a young and inexperienced researcher such as my-
self. This research would also not have been possible without a generous schol-
arship from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
I want to express my thanks to Craig Gill, editor- in- chief at the University
Press of Mississippi, for his faith in my work and to managing editor Anne Sta-
scavage and editorial assistant Valerie Jones. Special thanks are also extended to
ix