The Price of Freedom : Slavery and Manumission in Baltimore and Early National Maryland

Digital
data file.
Imprint
Lexington : The University Press of Kentucky, ©1997.
Physical description
1 online resource (253 pages)

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Description

Creators/Contributors

Author/Creator
Whitman, T. Stephen, 1950-

Contents/Summary

Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents
  • Cover; Title; Copyright; Contents; List of Illustrations and Maps; List of Tables; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1 SLAVERY IN EARLY NATIONAL BALTIMORE AND RURAL MARYLAND; 2 INDUSTRIAL SLAVERY IN BALTIMORE; 3 THE BLACK DRIVE FOR AUTONOMY AND MASTERS' RESPONSES; 4 MANUMISSION AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF SLAVERY; 5 FREE BLACK FAMILY STRATEGIES FOR GAINING FREEDOM; 6 POLITICAL-ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND FREE BLACKS; Conclusions; Appendix A: Baltimore Slaveholders, 1790-1820; Appendix B: Occupational Categories; Appendix C: Sale Prices of Term Slaves and Slaves for Life; Notes; Bibliography; Index; A; B.
  • Cd; e; f; g; h; i; j; k; l; m; n; o; p; q; r; s; t; u; v; w; z.
Summary
A stereotypical image of manumission is that of a benign plantation owner freeing his slaves on his deathbed. But as Stephen Whitman demonstrates, the truth was far more complex, especially in border states where manumission was much more common. Whitman analyzes the economic and social history of Baltimore to show how the vigorous growth of the city required the exploitation of rural slaves. To prevent them from escaping and to spur higher production, owners entered into arrangements with their slaves, promising eventual freedom in return for many years' hard work. The Price of Freedom reveals how blacks played a critical role in freeing themselves from slavery. Yet it was an imperfect victory. Once Baltimore's economic growth began to slow, freed blacks were virtually excluded from craft apprenticeships, and European immigrants supplanted them as a trained labor force.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

Bibliographic information

Publication date
1997
ISBN
9780813165097 (electronic bk.)
0813165091 (electronic bk.)
0813155541
9780813155548
Librarian view | Catkey: 12451770