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Slavery and Freedom in Savannah
Slavery and Freedom in Savannah is a richly illustrated, accessibly written book modeled on the very successful Slavery in New York , a volume Leslie M. Harris coedited with Ira Berlin. Here Harris and Daina Ramey Berry have collected a variety of perspectives on slavery, emancipation, and black life in Savannah from the city’s founding to the early twentieth century. Written by leading historians of Savannah, Georgia, and the South, the volume includes a mix of longer thematic essays and shorter sidebars focusing on individual people, events, and places.
The story of slavery in Savannah may seem to be an outlier, given how strongly most people associate slavery with rural plantations. But as Harris, Berry, and the other contributors point out, urban slavery was instrumental to the slave-based economy of North America. Ports like Savannah served as both an entry point for slaves and as a point of departure for goods produced by slave labor in the hinterlands. Moreover, Savannah’s connection to slavery was not simply abstract. The system of slavery as experienced by African Americans and enforced by whites influenced the very shape of the city, including the building of its infrastructure, the legal system created to support it, and the economic life of the city and its rural surroundings. Slavery and Freedom in Savannah restores the urban African American population and the urban context of slavery, Civil War, and emancipation to its rightful place, and it deepens our understanding of the economic, social, and political fabric of the U.S. South.
This project is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. This volume is published in cooperation with Savannah’s Telfair Museum and draws upon its expertise and collections, including Telfair’s Owens-Thomas House. As part of their ongoing efforts to document the lives and labors of the African Americans―enslaved and free―who built and worked at the house, this volume also explores the Owens, Thomas, and Telfair families and the ways in which their ownership of slaves was foundational to their wealth and worldview.
The story of slavery in Savannah may seem to be an outlier, given how strongly most people associate slavery with rural plantations. But as Harris, Berry, and the other contributors point out, urban slavery was instrumental to the slave-based economy of North America. Ports like Savannah served as both an entry point for slaves and as a point of departure for goods produced by slave labor in the hinterlands. Moreover, Savannah’s connection to slavery was not simply abstract. The system of slavery as experienced by African Americans and enforced by whites influenced the very shape of the city, including the building of its infrastructure, the legal system created to support it, and the economic life of the city and its rural surroundings. Slavery and Freedom in Savannah restores the urban African American population and the urban context of slavery, Civil War, and emancipation to its rightful place, and it deepens our understanding of the economic, social, and political fabric of the U.S. South.
This project is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. This volume is published in cooperation with Savannah’s Telfair Museum and draws upon its expertise and collections, including Telfair’s Owens-Thomas House. As part of their ongoing efforts to document the lives and labors of the African Americans―enslaved and free―who built and worked at the house, this volume also explores the Owens, Thomas, and Telfair families and the ways in which their ownership of slaves was foundational to their wealth and worldview.
- GenresHistory
288 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 7, 2021
I read this while visiting Savannah and it transformed my visit. It interferes best with the Owens-Williams House and Telfair House as those people are the ones most featured. I appreciated the little inserts about people or events or issues that stood alone and I could read to my family. They hit all the important issues in efficient ways with wonderful writing style and I really was able to connect these stories with everything I saw in the city and this get a more complete history.
November 15, 2018
The book is described as "written by leading historians of Savannah, Georgia, and the South, the volume includes a mix of longer thematic essays and shorter sidebars focusing on individual people, events, and places". It functions as an unusual cross between an academic history and something more like a travel guide (it also includes illustrations and photographs). It covers the history of African Americans, enslaved and free, in Savannah, Georgia, from the beginnings of the transatlantic slave trade through to the Jim Crow era, and could be read cover to cover as a chronological history (albeit through a series of essays by different authors). I have instead dipped in and out. One chapter deservedly excoriates Mary Telfair, a rich slaveowner of the nineteenth century whose name is still well-known in Savannah through her endowment of the Telfair museums (which sponsored this book). It's a glimpse at the development of Southern slaveholding paternalism and the antebellum conviction that 'mastery actively benefitted slaves', and all from a woman's point of view. Another fascinating chapter covers black enslaved labour in an urban context, including the enslaved women who essentially ran the food markets of the city, an aspect of Southern life and food history that was new to me.
A book that is well worth a look as a picture of the system of slavery as it developed in one city over a long period of time.
A book that is well worth a look as a picture of the system of slavery as it developed in one city over a long period of time.
August 30, 2023
Quite illuminating
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews