"The distinction among slaves is as marked, as the classes of society are in any aristocratic community. Some refusing to associate with others whom they deem to be beneath them, in point of character, color, condition, or the superior importance of their respective masters." Henry Bibb, fugitive slave, editor, and antislavery activist, stated this in his Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb (1849). In William L. Andrews's magisterial study of
an entire generation of slave narrators, more than 60 mid-nineteenth-century narratives reveal how work, family, skills, and connections made for social and economic differences among the enslaved of the
South. Slave narrators disclosed class-based reasons for violence that broke out between "impudent," "gentleman," and "lady" slaves and their resentful "mean masters." Andrews's far-reaching book shows that status and class played key roles in the self- and social awareness and in the processes of liberation portrayed in the narratives of the most celebrated fugitives from U.S. slavery, such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, William Wells Brown, and William and Ellen
Craft.Slavery and Class in the American South explains why social and economic distinctions developed and how they functioned among the enslaved. Noting that the majority of the slave narrators came
from the higher echelons of the enslaved, Andrews also pays close attention to the narratives that have received the least notice from scholars, those from the most exploited class, the "field hands." By examining the lives of the most and least acclaimed heroes and heroines of the slave narrative, Andrews shows how the dividing edge of social class cut two ways, sometimes separating upper and lower strata of slaves to their enslavers' advantage, but at other times fueling pride, aspiration,
and a sense of just deserts among some of the enslaved that could be satisfied by nothing less than complete freedom.The culmination of a career spent studying African American
literature, this comprehensive study of the antebellum slave narrative offers a ground-breaking consideration of a unique genre of American literature.
"The distinction among slaves is as marked, as the classes of society are in any aristocratic community. Some refusing to associate with others whom they deem to be beneath them, in point of character, color, condition, or the superior importance of their respective masters." Henry Bibb, fugitive slave, editor, and antislavery activist, stated this in his Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb (1849). In William L. Andrews's magisterial study of
an entire generation of slave narrators, more than 60 mid-nineteenth-century narratives reveal how work, family, skills, and connections made for social and economic differences among the enslaved of the
South. Slave narrators disclosed class-based reasons for violence that broke out between "impudent," "gentleman," and "lady" slaves and their resentful "mean masters." Andrews's far-reaching book shows that status and class played key roles in the self- and social awareness and in the processes of liberation portrayed in the narratives of the most celebrated fugitives from U.S. slavery, such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, William Wells Brown, and William and Ellen
Craft.Slavery and Class in the American South explains why social and economic distinctions developed and how they functioned among the enslaved. Noting that the majority of the slave narrators came
from the higher echelons of the enslaved, Andrews also pays close attention to the narratives that have received the least notice from scholars, those from the most exploited class, the "field hands." By examining the lives of the most and least acclaimed heroes and heroines of the slave narrative, Andrews shows how the dividing edge of social class cut two ways, sometimes separating upper and lower strata of slaves to their enslavers' advantage, but at other times fueling pride, aspiration,
and a sense of just deserts among some of the enslaved that could be satisfied by nothing less than complete freedom.The culmination of a career spent studying African American
literature, this comprehensive study of the antebellum slave narrative offers a ground-breaking consideration of a unique genre of American literature.
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Slaves and Privileges
Chapter 1: Emerging Class Awareness
Chapter 2: Work, Status, and Social Mobility
Chapter 3: Class and Conflict: White and Black
Chapter 4: The Fugitive as Class Exemplar
Epilogue: "The record of which we feel so proud today"
Appendix: African American Slave Narratives, 1840-1865
Notes
Index
William L. Andrews is E. Maynard Adams Professor of English Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has authored, edited, or co-edited more than 40 books on African American literature and history. He is the recipient of the Jay B. Hubbell Medal for lifetime achievement in the study of American literature.
"Though most slave narratives reflect the experiences of skilled
ex-slaves, Andrews's work highlights field slaves' narratives and
their experiences to give a more complete picture of the enslaved
antebellum experience. An in-depth study of former slavesâ concepts
of class, this work is a valuable resource to scholars of American
history and literature." -- Choice
"...he admiringly succeeds in highlighting differences in social
status and class among enslaved African Americans and insightfully
discusses how the parameters of distinction informed the narrators'
sense of themselves and their views on slavery and the enslaved
population of the American South." -- Silke Hackenesch,
Amerikastudien
"In this crowning scholarly achievement of a long career, William
L. Andrews confirms that these seemingly simple [slave] narratives
can offer more complex and nuanced readings. In addition to
revealing the value of close attention to the narratives, this
monograph, as did Andrews's previous work, highlights the
complexity of the lives of the enslaved and their commentary on key
issues." -- Nicole N. Aljoe, Journal of American History
"William Andrews has 'lifted the veil' on class relations within
the slave community in the antebellum South. Well-meaning scholars,
mostly for political reasons, have far too often chosen to remain
silent about distinctions of class drawn by black people among
themselves, starting in slavery, choosing to discuss African
Americans as if they were always a social monolith, and thereby
reducing their complexity. Andrews reveals, in riveting detail,
that this
has never been the case, even well before the Civil War. This is a
seminal work of scholarship, one destined to generate a new branch
of literary studies, dedicated to studying how class mattered
within
the African American tradition."--Henry Louis Gates Jr., Harvard
University
"William Andrews has given us an inestimable gift-the first
sustained consideration of the totality of known antebellum slave
narratives. Andrews provides new insight into the ways enslaved and
oppressed people leveraged limited social and economic power to
claw out a place for themselves in a system that was never meant to
support their survival or success. This momentous work reveals more
than we ever have known about the kinds of work these writers
did
before they made their way to 'freedom.' This much-needed
contribution will be used by literary scholars and historians and
will help shape emerging scholarship for decades."--P. Gabrielle
Foreman, Founding
Faculty Director, The Colored Conventions Project
"No one knows the substance and range of slave narratives as well
as William Andrews. The preeminent scholar of this genre here shows
with brilliant clarity and new insights how much social class
shaped the authors' lives within slavery, as well as motivated
their desires and methods of achieving freedom. Slavery and Class
in the American South removes slave narrative authors from a
flattened, mythic realm and probes their economic and social
hierarchies. This is the most innovative book ever written on the
first generation of African American writers."--David W. Blight,
author of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
"Andrews's deep familiarity with the narratives that enslaved and
formerly enslaved people produced in the mid-nineteenth century
enables him to conduct a nuanced interrogation of how enslaved
people perceived social class and privilege in the wider society,
but particularly within their own communities."--Heather Williams,
University of Pennsylvania
"William Andrews is one of the leading scholars of American slavery
and certainly one of our great authorities on the testimony of
enslaved people. But here he has broken new ground by looking at
how the enslaved understood and expressed social distinctions among
themselves, notions of 'class' within their own communities.
Slavery and Class in the American South is a thought-provoking and
unsettling read, though one that is important to grapple
with."--Steven Hahn, author of A Nation Under Our Feet
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