Race and Nation in the Age of Emancipations (Race in the Atlantic World, 1700–1900 Ser. Book 31)

Introduction / Whitney Nell Stewart and John Garrison Marks -- Mobility and migration -- Freedom, reenslavement, and movement in the revolutionary South / Matthew Spooner -- To fashion ourselves citizens: colonization, belonging, and the problem of nationhood in the Atlantic South, 1829-1859 / Andrew N. Wegmann -- Exiles in America: Canadian anti-black racism and the meaning of nation in the age of the 1848 revolutions / Ikuko Asaka -- Law and legal status -- "To break our chains and form a free people": race, nation, and Haiti's Imperial Constitution of 1805 / Philip Kaisary -- Seaman and citizen: learning the law of citizenship, from Baltimore to Valparaiso / Martha S. Jones -- Labor and freedom -- Apprenticeship and emancipation in the Caribbean: the seeds of citizenship / Gad Heuman -- Who is black in a black republic? Labor in the remaking of black citizenship in Liberia / Caree A. Banton -- Race and the public sphere -- Race and belonging in the new American nation: the republican roots of black abolitionism / Paul J. Polgar -- "All the inhabitants of this America are citizens" : imagining equality -- Nation, and citizenship in an Atlantic frame / James E. Sanders -- The racial terms of citizenship: abolition and its political aftermath in northeastern Brazil / Celso Thomas Castilho. <p>Over the long nineteenth century, African-descended peoples used the uncertainties and possibilities of emancipation to stake claims to freedom, equality, and citizenship. In the process, people of color transformed the contours of communities, nations, and the Atlantic World. Although emancipation was an Atlantic event, it has been studied most often in geographically isolated ways. The justification for such local investigations rests in the notion that imperial and national contexts are essential to understanding slaving regimes. Just as the experience of slavery differed throughout the Atlantic World, so too did the experience of emancipation, as enslaved people’s paths to freedom varied depending on time and place.</p><p>With the essays in this volume, historians contend that emancipation was not something that simply happened to enslaved peoples but rather something in which they actively participated. By viewing local experiences through an Atlantic framework, the contributors reveal how emancipation was both a shared experience across national lines and one shaped by the particularities of a specific nation. Their examination uncovers, in detail, the various techniques employed by people of African descent across the Atlantic World, allowing a broader picture of their paths to freedom.</p><p><b>Contributors:</b> Ikuko Asaka, Caree A. Banton, Celso Thomas Castilho, Gad Heuman, Martha S. Jones, Philip Kaisary, John Garrison Marks, Paul J. Polgar, James E. Sanders, Julie Saville, Matthew Spooner, Whitney Nell Stewart, and Andrew N. Wegmann.</p> Over the long nineteenth century, African-descended peoples used the uncertainties and possibilities of emancipation to stake claims to freedom, equality, and citizenship. In the process, people of color transformed the contours of communities, nations, and the Atlantic World. Although emancipation was an Atlantic event, it has been studied most often in geographically isolated ways. The justification for such local investigations rests in the notion that imperial and national contexts are essential to understanding slaving regimes. Just as the experience of slavery differed throughout the Atlantic World, so too did the experience of emancipation, as enslaved people's paths to freedom varied depending on time and place. With the essays in this volume, historians contend that emancipation was not something that simply happened to enslaved peoples but rather something in which they actively participated. By viewing local experiences through an Atlantic framework, the contributors reveal how emancipation was both a shared experience across national lines and one shaped by the particularities of a specific nation. Their examination uncovers, in detail, the various techniques employed by people of African descent across the Atlantic World, allowing a broader picture of their paths to freedom. Contributors: Ikuko Asaka, Caree A. Banton, Celso Thomas Castilho, Gad Heuman, Martha S. Jones, Philip Kaisary, John Garrison Marks, Paul J. Polgar, James E. Sanders, Julie Saville, Matthew Spooner, Whitney Nell Stewart, and Andrew N. Wegmann. Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Foreword: Nations beyond Nations Julie Saville -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction Whitney Nell Stewart and John Garrison Marks -- Part 1. Mobility and Migration -- Freedom, Reenslavement, and Movement in the Revolutionary South -- To Fashion Ourselves Citizens: Colonization, Belonging, and the Problem of Nationhood in the Atlantic South, 1829-1859 -- Exiles in America: Canadian Anti- Black Racism and the Meaning of Nation in the Age of the 1848 Revolutions -- Part 2. Law and Legal Status -- "To Break Our Chains and Form a Free People": Race, Nation, and Haiti's Imperial Constitution of 1805 -- Seaman and Citizen: Learning the Law of Citizenship, from Baltimore to Valparaiso -- Part 3. Labor and Freedom -- Apprenticeship and Emancipation in the Caribbean: The Seeds of Citizenship -- Who Is Black in a Black Republic? Labor in the Remaking of Black Citizenship in Liberia -- Part 4. Race and the Public Sphere -- Race and Belonging in the New American Nation: The Republican Roots of Black Abolitionism -- "All the Inhabitants of This America Are Citizens": Imagining Equality, Nation, and Citizenship in an Atlantic Frame -- The Racial Terms of Citizenship: Abolition and Its Political Aftermath in Northeastern Brazil -- Contributors