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The Archaeology of Anti-Slavery Resistance PDF

211 Pages·2012·3.52 MB·English
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ARCHAEOLOGY/HISTORY Terrance M. Weik W e “Weik’s comprehensive survey of the archaeology of freedom represents a critical i k contribution to African Diaspora studies and serves as an admirable standard for which future research in this area should strive.”—Maria Franklin, University of Texas at Austin Th e “Offers a fresh approach to understanding the varied ways in which enslaved A people sought freedom.”—Theresa Singleton, Syracuse University r c t h a D uring the many decades of slavery in North America, people of African e o descent sought to protect their human rights, escape from bondage, and l o combat exploitation. Their actions varied across different settings and times and The Archaeology of g included accommodation, collaboration, autonomy, and militancy. This volume y focuses on the evolution of antislavery resistance by examining the things o f left behind, including documents, oral traditions, and other material evidence A illustrating how enslaved people fought for their freedom. n Terrance Weik presents readers with case studies accumulated from the archaeo- t i logical record left by Maroons in the Americas, Black Seminoles, and the Under- s l a ground Railroad. He highlights the ways archaeologists have contributed to our v understanding of the struggles for freedom from slavery pursued by people of the e r African Diaspora in the Americas and their allies. y Weik encourages readers to consider the global dimensions of antislavery re- R sistance as well as issues that continue to spark debate today, including racism, e s cultural survival, self-determination, and inequality. i s t a Terrance M. Weik, associate professor of anthropology at the University of South n c Carolina, is a contributor to Archaeology of Atlantic Africa and the African Diaspora. e A volume in the series The American Experience in Archaeological Perspective, edited by Michael S. Nassaney Front cover, right: Yanga statue, city of Yanga, Mexico. Photo by author. Bottom: “Burning of Pilaklikaha by Gen. Eustis.” Lithograph by R. F. Gray (1836). Courtesy of the Library of Congress. University Press of Florida ISBN 978-0-8130-3759-2 www.upf.com ,!7IA8B3-adhfjc! uPf The American Experience in Archaeological Perspective The Archaeology of Antislavery Resistance The American Experience in Archaeological Perspective University Press of Florida Florida A&M University, Tallahassee Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers Florida International University, Miami Florida State University, Tallahassee New College of Florida, Sarasota University of Central Florida, Orlando University of Florida, Gainesville University of North Florida, Jacksonville University of South Florida, Tampa University of West Florida, Pensacola The Archaeology of AntislAvery resistAnce Terrance M. Weik Foreword by Michael S. Nassaney University Press of Florida Gainesville · Tallahassee · Tampa · Boca Raton · Pensacola Orlando · Miami · Jacksonville · Ft. Myers · Sarasota Copyright 2012 by Terrance M. Weik All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America. This book is printed on Glatfelter Natures Book, a paper certified under the standards of the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC). It is a recycled stock that contains 30 percent post-consumer waste and is acid-free. 17 16 15 14 13 12 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Weik, Terrance M. The archaeology of antislavery resistance / Terrance M. Weik ; foreword by Michael S. Nassaney. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8130-3759-2 (alk. paper) 1. Antislavery movements—United States—History. 2. Slave insurrections— United States—History. 3. Fugitive slaves—United States—History. 4. Underground Railroad. 5. Ethnoarchaeology—United States. 6. Archaeology and history—United States. 7. African Americans—Antiquities. 8. Slaves— United States—Antiquities I. Title. E450.W398 2012 326.'80973—dc23 2011037454 The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for the State University System of Florida, comprising Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, Florida State University, New College of Florida, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of North Florida, University of South Florida, and University of West Florida. University Press of Florida 15 Northwest 15th Street Gainesville, FL 32611-2079 http://www.upf.com Contents List of Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . vii Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2. Historical Highlights of Antislavery Resistance . . . . . 9 3. Resistance, Freedom, Networks, and Ethnogenesis in Theory and Practice . . . . . . . . . . . 26 4. Archaeologies of Self-Liberated African Communities . . . 55 5. Antislavery Collaborations and the Underground Railroad . . 80 6. Coalitions, Community-Building, and Conflict in Seminole Territory . . . . . . . . . . . 118 7. Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Illustrations Figures 1.1 Beads from Pilaklikaha 5 1.2 Yanga statue and author, city of Yanga, Mexico 6 3.1 Moremi statue, city of Ife, Nigeria 39 5.1 Eastern wall of Stevens cistern showing modified “window” 89 5.2 Planview map of Roberts site cabin foundation stones 99 5.3 Church at Amapa, Mexico 113 5.4 Adobe house at Nacimiento 116 6.1 African Seminole towns, Maroon communities, and African- colonial forts 122 6.2 “Burning of Pilaklikaha by Gen. Eustis” 126 6.3 Structural remains from Pilaklikaha 129 6.4 Bisected feature, southern half of test unit 2000N1985E 131 6.5 Planview of artifact and feature clusters from Pilaklikaha 132 6.6 Letter to an agent of an Alachua County slave owner permitting payment to Abraham for cattle 141 6.7 Lead shot, bullet, and molten mass recovered from Pilaklikaha 143 6.8 Euro-American pottery sherds from Pilaklikaha 144 6.9 Seminole and locally made pottery from Pilaklikaha 146 Maps 2.1 Select locations of African antislavery rebellion and self-liberation 21 4.1 Select self-liberated communities studied by archaeologists 57 5.1 Select UGRR and antislavery archaeological research locations 94 Foreword It would be difficult to identify more central core values in the American experience than justice and freedom. Early European immigrants in the age of discovery appropriated new lands at any cost to practice beliefs un- impeded by divine monarchs and politically oppressive regimes. In New England and the Southern colonies these migrants in turn banned and persecuted those who disagreed with their dominant beliefs. The legacy of a free nation propels people from around the world to seek admittance to the United States in order to realize their social and economic dreams for their children and grandchildren. Yet Americans have always lived with contradictions that have denied large segments of the population supposedly inalienable rights for vari- ous ideological reasons. Women, the working classes, Native Americans, and masses of forcefully displaced Africans brought here against their wishes to work without compensation (now called African Americans) have struggled for the freedom and justice that white, male, land-owning Americans have long taken for granted. Perhaps the most horrific denial of human dignity and equality occurred under the peculiar institution of American slavery—a dominant mode of production from the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries. So pervasive and insidious were the injus- tices and skewed rationale of slavery that the country still lingers in the dark shadow of racism that legitimized the social hierarchy of repression. Despite the apparent hegemony of slavery, which was buttressed by le- gal, political/military, social, and economic policies and practices, people of color and their white sympathizers challenged, resisted, and rebelled against human bondage, because the desire for freedom is universal. A small but adamant minority recognized the demeaning nature of enslave- ment for both the enslaved and the enslavers and sought to liberate espe- cially the former from the physical and conceptual shackles that compro- mised their humanity.

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“Weik’s comprehensive survey of the archaeology of freedom represents a critical contribution to African Diaspora studies, and serves as an admirable standard to which future research in this area should strive to achieve.”—Maria Franklin, University of Texas at Austin “Offers a fresh a
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