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

Through an examination of various couples who were forced to live in slavery, Rebecca J. Fraser argues that slaves found ways to conduct successful courting relationships. In its focus on the processes of courtship among the enslaved, this study offers further insight into the meanings that structured intimate lives. Establishing their courtships, often across plantations, the enslaved men and women of antebellum North Carolina worked within and around the slave system to create and maintain meaningful personal relationships that were both of and apart from the world of the plantation. They claimed the right to participate in the social events of courtship and, in the process, challenged and disrupted the southern social order in discreet and covert acts of defiance. Informed by feminist conceptions of gender, sexuality, power, and resistance, the study argues that the courting relationship afforded the enslaved a significant social space through which they could cultivate alternative identities to those which were imposed upon them in the context of their daily working lives. Rebecca J. Fraser is lecturer in American studies at the University of East Anglia. Her essays have appeared in Journal of Southern History and Slavery and Abolition. Through An Examination Of Various Couples Who Were Forced To Live In Slavery, Rebecca J. Fraser Argues That Slaves Found Ways To Conduct Successful Courting Relationships. In Its Focus On The Processes Of Courtship Among The Enslaved, This Study Offers Further Insight Into The Meanings That Structured Intimate Lives. Establishing Their Courtships, Often Across Plantations, The Enslaved Men And Women Of Antebellum North Carolina Worked Within And Around The Slave System To Create And Maintain Meaningful Personal Relationships That Were Both Of And Apart From The World Of The Plantation. They Claimed The Right To Participate In The Social Events Of Courtship And, In The Process, Challenged And Disrupted The Southern Social Order In Discreet And Covert Acts Of Defiance. Informed By Feminist Conceptions Of Gender, Sexuality, Power, And Resistance, The Study Argues That The Courting Relationship Afforded The Enslaved A Significant Social Space Through Which They Could Cultivate Alternative Identities To Those Which Were Imposed Upon Them In The. Context Of Their Daily Working Lives.--book Jacket. 1. Love Seems With Them More To Be An Eager Desire : Racialized Stereotypes In The Slaveholding South -- 2. Asking Master Mack To Court : Competing Spheres Of Influence -- 3. Getting Out To Play And Courting All They Pleased : The Social And Temporal Geographies Of Enslaved Courtship -- 4. Taking A Whipping For Lily : Courtship As A Narrative Of Resistance -- 5. A Red Satin Ribbon Tied Around My Finger : The Meaning Of The Wedding Ceremony. Rebecca J. Fraser. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 123-132) And Index. Through an examination of various couples who were forced to live in slavery, Rebecca J. Fraser argues that slaves found ways to conduct successful courting relationships. In its focus on the processes of courtship among the enslaved, this study offers further insight into the meanings that structured intimate lives.

Establishing their courtships, often across plantations, the enslaved men and women of antebellum North Carolina worked within and around the slave system to create and maintain meaningful personal relationships that were both of and apart from the world of the plantation. They claimed the right to participate in the social events of courtship and, in the process, challenged and disrupted the southern social order in discreet and covert acts of defiance.

Informed by feminist conceptions of gender, sexuality, power, and resistance, the study argues that the courting relationship afforded the enslaved a significant social space through which they could cultivate alternative identities to those which were imposed upon them in the context of their daily working lives. "I've heard some of the young people laugh about slave love, but they should envy the love which kept mother and father so close together in life and even held them in death." Alonzo Haywood's comment reflected on the relationship between his father, Willis Haywood, and his mother, Mirana Denson, who were both enslaved in antebellum North Carolina. He explained that while his father was enslaved at Falls of Neuse, he fell in love with Mirana Denson, who lived in Raleigh, "He come to see her every chance he got and then they were married." Reflecting on the strength and sincerity of his parents' feelings for one another he commented, "Mother died near twenty years ago and father died four years later. He had not cared to live since mother left him."