Closer to Freedom: Enslaved Women and Everyday Resistance in the Plantation South

224 Pages·2004·2.546 MB·English

by  Stephanie M. H. Camp

freCeldosoer m
to
Gender and American Culture
Coeditors
Thadious M. Davis
Linda K. Kerber
Editorial Advisory Board
Nancy Cott
Cathy N. Davidson
Jane Sherron De Hart
Sara Evans
Mary Kelley
Annette Kolodny
Wendy Martin
Nell Irvin Painter
Janice Radway
Barbara Sicherman
Closer
freedom
to
Enslaved Women
and Everyday
Resistance in the
Plantation South
stephanie m. h. camp
The University of North Carolina Press
Chapel Hill and London
∫ 2004 The University of North Carolina Press Library of Congress
All rights reserved Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Manufactured in the United States of America Camp, Stephanie M. H.
Closer to freedom : enslaved women and
Designed by Jacquline Johnson everyday resistance in the plantation South /
Set in Minion Stephanie M. H. Camp.
by Keystone Typesetting, Inc. p. cm. — (Gender and American culture)
Includes bibliographical references (p. )
The paper in this book meets the guidelines and index.
for permanence and durability of the Committee isbn 0-8078-2872-6 (cloth: alk. paper)
on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity isbn 0-8078-5534-0 (pbk.: alk. paper)
of the Council on Library Resources. 1. Women slaves—Southern States—Social
conditions—19th century. 2. Slaves—Southern
Portions of Chapter 2 appeared earlier, in States—Social conditions—19th century.
somewhat di√erent form, as ‘‘‘I Could Not Stay 3. Passive resistance—Southern States—
There’: Enslaved Women, Truancy and the History—19th century. 4. Sex role—Southern
Geography of Everyday Forms of Resistance in States—History—19th century. 5. Plantation
the Antebellum Plantation South,’’ Slavery and life—Southern States—History—19th century.
Abolition 23, no. 3 (December 2002): 1–20. It is 6. Freedom of movement—Southern States—
reprinted here with permission of the publisher History—19th century. 7. Landscape—Social
((http://www.tandf.co.uk)). Portions of aspects—Southern States—History—19th
Chapter 3 appeared earlier, in somewhat century. 8. Human geography—Southern
di√erent form, as ‘‘The Pleasures of Resistance: States—History—19th century. 9. Slavery—
Enslaved Women and Body Politics in the Southern States—History—19th century.
Plantation South, 1830–1861,’’ Journal of Southern 10. Southern States—Race relations. I. Title.
History 68, no. 3 (August 2002): 533–72. It is II. Gender & American culture.
reprinted here with permission. e443.c36 2004
306.3%62%0820973—dc22 2003024975
cloth 08 07 06 05 04 5 4 3 2 1
paper 08 07 06 05 04 5 4 3 2 1
contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
chapter one
A Geography of Containment:
The Bondage of Space and Time 12
chapter two
I Could Not Stay There:
Women, Men, and Truancy 35
chapter three
The Intoxication of Pleasurable Amusement:
Secret Parties and the Politics of the Body 60
chapter four
Amalgamation Prints Stuck Up in Her Cabin:
Print Culture, the Home, and the Roots of Resistance 93
chapter five
To Get Closer to Freedom:
Gender, Movement, and Freedom during the Civil War 117
Postscript 139
Notes 143
Bibliography 175
Index 203
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illustrations
Slave pass 21
Slave harness 23
Hauling Cotton to the River 29
The Plantation Patrol 31
The Sabbath among Slaves 66
The Festival 67
A Live Oak Avenue 70
A Negro Funeral 73
The Country Church 74
Am I Not a Woman and a Sister? 110
Mother Separated from Her Children 111
Abolition Hall 113
Practical Amalgamation 114
Illustration from ‘‘Les esclaves et la proclamation du président Lincoln’’ 121
The Escaped Correspondent Enjoying the Negro’s Hospitality 137
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acknowledgments
This book began some years ago as a dissertation at the University of Pennsyl-
vania, where I had the good fortune to study with the support of the depart-
ment’s pedagogical and financial generosity. The dissertation from which this
book grew (and strayed) benefited from the attention of a few extraordinary
professors. Drew Gilpin Faust gently guided the dissertation, drafts of which
she read—and marked with comments—with a speed that I have yet to hear
of replicated by anyone else. Drew’s example of grace in teaching and love of
learning continues to inspire me. Carroll Smith-Rosenberg directed me to a
number of anthropological and literary scholars whose work set many key
ideas into motion. And Farah Gri≈n was a supportive and honest third
reader. I was privileged to be able to study at Penn at all because of a Fon-
taine Fellowship that supported the first few years of graduate work, while a
Mellon Dissertation Fellowship funded a year of writing. Research trips were
supported by the Virginia Historical Society, the Library Company of Phila-
delphia, and the Huggins-Quarles Award of the Organization of American
Historians.
In Philadelphia I met other excited graduate students with whom I had
stimulating conversations about history and politics, and to whom I could
often turn for a read of my work. While it is impossible to thank everyone
who contributed to this genial intellectual climate, I owe special thanks to
Anjali Arondekar, Ed Baptist, Kali Gross, Elisa von Joeden-Forgey, Russ Kazal,
Kostis Kourelis, Je√ Maskovsky, Darrell Moore, Eve Oishi, Matt Reuben, Liam
Riordan, Marc Stein, Jennifer Uleman, and Rhonda Williams. Vassar Col-
lege’s Minority Scholar in Residence program allowed me to finish the disser-
tation while also getting a feel for teaching (with a very kind load). The
hospitality of Vassar and its faculty, especially Miriam Cohen, and the beauty
of the mid-Hudson valley, made the process of finishing almost bearable.
Since graduate school, Herman Bennett, Christopher Brown, Vince Brown,
Sharla Fett, Sally Hadden, Walter Johnson, Barbara Krauthamer, Jennifer