Closer to Freedom: Enslaved Women and Everyday Resistance in the Plantation South

by Stephanie M.H. Camp

Recent scholarship on slavery has explored the lives of enslaved people beyond the watchful eye of their masters. Building on this work and the study of space, social relations, gender, and power in the Old South, Stephanie Camp examines the everyday containment and movement of enslaved men and, especially, enslaved women. In her investigation of the movement of bodies, objects, and information, Camp extends our recognition of slave resistance into new arenas and reveals an important and hidden culture of opposition.

Camp discusses the multiple dimensions to acts of resistance that might otherwise appear to be little more than fits of temper. She brings new depth to our understanding of the lives of enslaved women, whose bodies and homes were inevitably political arenas. Through Camp's insight, truancy becomes an act of pursuing personal privacy. Illegal parties ("frolics") become an expression of bodily freedom. And bondwomen who acquired printed abolitionist materials and posted them on the walls of their slave cabins (even if they could not read them) become the subtle agitators who inspire more overt acts.

The culture of opposition created by enslaved women's acts of everyday resistance helped foment and sustain the more visible resistance of men in their individual acts of running away and in the collective action of slave revolts. Ultimately, Camp argues, the Civil War years saw revolutionary change that had been in the making for decades.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Race, Feminism, African American, Gender

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Cynda Reads]

When in 2017 I read Ar'n't I a Woman?: Female Slaves in the Plantation South by Deborah Gray White,another GR reader suggested I read Closer to Freedom: Enslaved Women and Everyday Resistance in the Plantation South.

Most of the information in the book I was more or less familiar with, such as descriptions of truants versus runaways/fugitives, use of the woods, extended work days of women, family commitments of women. . . . .What was new to me: How some slave women posted on their walls flyers and pamphlets of abolitionist groups. Because basic literacy was moving into lower social stratum, the flyers and pamphlets contained pictures that were supported by text more than text supported by pictures. The pictures were the fairly standard ones we know of today, such crowded slave ship diagrams and the slave man on his knees holding up his chains where he asks "Aren't I a man?"

Timely accident?/There are no accidents in God's World. Either way. . . .

[Joanne Rixon]

Camp's work on the social history of enslaved women in the American South is foundational to a solid understanding of the United States today. Culture developed in a pressure-cooker of bias and abuse forms the underpinnings of our modern world. Not only that, but Camp's exploration of 'everyday resistance' illuminates principles of resistance to oppression that blows up the myth of passivity/helplessness in the face of slavery. Absolute must-read.

[Sarah]

Well structured and wonderfully written. Camp's lucid prose effortlessly conveys her intricate thesis, which deconstructs dichotomies to nuance our understanding of the spatial, temporal, racial, and gendered properties of enslavement in the antebellum South.
One of the best books on slavery that I have read. I finished this book in three hours and already want to read it again.

[Kadienne]

I really enjoyed this one. Spatial history isn’t something you see a lot, but I thought it was done very well. The underlying theme of the body as a place of both exploitation and resistance complements the argument about the duality of physical space. Loving the gender theory (thanks Ethan)

[Jacob]

Really good book about the social history of enslaved women on plantations, focusing on the spatial dynamics of their enslavement. I particularly liked that Camp (who died of cancer not long ago) avoided the "resistance/accommodation" debate that often distracts from the importance of the stories themselves. Her writing is succinct and memorable. Occasionally there may be a bit of over-extrapolation from the relatively few primary sources that exist, but the book is forthright about this shortcoming. It is a pleasure to read and you will learn a lot.

[Sowande']

Contributes to the already existent body of enslaved resistance studies. She offers a rather abstract view of slavery which some can appreciate and also find simplistic in other ways. all in all, provides a nuanced interpretation - although broad with profound generalizations - that can further ones glimpse into the world of American slavery.

[Courtney Homer]

Fascinating look at slaves and slave resistance in the immediate pre-Civil War and Civil War period. Focuses on daily, non-traditional resistance - illuminating the variety of methods slaves employed in order to resist the system. Pulls from a lot of recent scholarship. Accessible read.

[Richard Pierce]

Besides being a well written book on the subject of slavery, this book better defined for me the difference between patriarchy and paternalism as it related to Southern society and it consequences for those enslaved.

[Erika]

There wasn't much that was new here but it did give me a new perspective on a few things.

[Jason S]

An interesting account of slave resistance by women. Interesting chapter on spread of abolitionist prints in the south.

[Jeremy Canipe]

When reading any academic book, its important to learn something about the author if you are not already familiar with them. In this instance, I was saddened to learn that Dr. Camp's life had been cut short by cancer in 2014, when she was only 46 years old, leaving behind a husband and young son. That sort of news can cut to the bone and reminds us of our common humanity and casted a somber light over might reading of her ground-breaking work in this book.

Here is an instance where, having not read the book for 16 years after its publication and having read many others on American slavery and enslaved women, many of Professor Camp's core points have been absorbed by me - thought this other secondary literature. That reminds me as well how much historians learn from each other and sheds light on her influence.

In explaining her book's goals in the introduction, Professor Camp noted that studies of enslavement had been stuck on two rocks that she hoped to dislodge.

First, historians often could to avoid a dichotomy between outright rebellion and running away versus a lack of resistance to slavery. She successfully focused the reader's attention, as the title suggest, on how enslaved women in particular resisted slavery on a day-to-day basis and how their actions can be seen as political acts and social resistance.

Second, in a related topic, scholars often had difficulty with balancing out the personal self-assertion versus domination of slaves by the slave owner and the legal system. In this regard, she brought to bear theories from geography (and sociology). In particular, her book discussed how slave owners and the law of slavery tried to keep enslaved people in certain places at certain times, mainly in the fields for work and their cabins otherwise, except for when a few (mainly slave men) had passes to travel for work for a short period. In contrast, she argues persuasively, enslaved people tried to assert their political claims for freedom of movement. This includes, most interestingly, clandestine (secular) parties and church services.

While other topics are covered, particularly the spread of abolitionist writings and the movement of enslaved women during the Civil War, this book is most helpful, I think due to these two topics I noted previously. I am familiar with the social science theories she drew from, having looked at them myself during history graduate school. They can be helpful if they allow the historian additional mental space to understand a set of historical facts, and that seems to be the case for Professor Camp. Slavery involved a tug-of-war between enslaved women and those who wanted to keep them in specific places, doing authorized activities, at approved times, while enslaved women wanted to decide what to do and when to do so, with this being a crucial component of freedom.

[Annie]

This was so unbelievably informative, that to call it compulsory reading would be an understatement. Among the many detriments to how the U.S. documented the horrors of slavery, was the complete and utter admittance of female narratives outside of the famous pursuit of freedom of a select few. I had zero to no knowledge around the day-to-day lives of enslaved women, or the idea that they participated in truancy occasionally, as a means of relief and survival from the day-to-day life they lived, and under the knowledge of their enslavers no less, which is not too different an extension from how we practice taking relief from our work and obligations today.

Of course, you cannot compare enslavement to a 40-hour work week in any circumstance, least of all as a privileged white woman, but there is something to be said in the power this book gives back to enslaved women by not just relying on the reduction of their lives to the established enslaved narrative (raped, murder, fight for freedom), and instead uses their own voices to also describe their knowledge and joy in making clothing, supporting the community culture and religion building, and simple means of resistance. Their lives were infinitely richer, in spite of the best efforts of colonizers and enslavers, and this book gives a voice to that.

[Pat]

This has some good information in it, but the formatting could have been better for the general reader. But this is full of good sources, this being another of those Ph.D. theses morphing into a book that I've been reading lately about this time period. These Ph.D. dissertations tend to be a little less than polished for general history but I appreciate it anyway. Again what we find is that misogyny rules everywhere and enslaved women were far more likely to be punished, and severely, than were enslaved men, and we know the horror stories of how horribly the MEN were beaten, etc. Women were far more likely to be confined to their plantations than were men, as well -- another interesting item I learned.

[madi]

Read this for one of my graduate seminars, and it's rightfully considered a pillar in the field of Black feminist history. The work utilizes WPA interviews and various other primary sources. It provides historical context and rebukes the age old tropes like the Jezebel and Mammy that emerged in the Old South starting in the 1830s and were rooted heavily in misogynoir. White rebukes the crass dichotomy that fraudulently represented the sexuality of Black women and was invented foremostly to preserve the institution of slavery and the inferiority of women. The author amplifies the multitude of ways that enslaved women built community, preserved their families, cultural practices, and personal agency.

[Me]

Fascinating premise and an intriguing list of sources. I would have liked for Camp to have gone further with the topic, as some of her points were left unfinished, to me. I also wish that the there would have been greater discussion regarding how the "rival geography" of the enslaved women impacted their post-emancipation lives, as well.

[Joe Joyce]

In this book Camp writes an engaging history on what plantation life was truly like for slaves. This ranges from the the constant supervision to the extreme cruelties of slavery this book is a must read for anyone who wants a better understanding of US Slavery.

[A]

Imaginative methodology, rereading old archives (w/ special focus on WPA interviews of formerly enslaved people) and sounding out potential textures of bondwomen's lives from there. Precursor to Hartman...?

[Beth]

Suggested reading in Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America

[Jack]

for class

[Anya]

This is a fantastic book. Rival geographies!

Read for HIST180 SC

[Daisy]

Good!

[Kris]

Did not get as far into this one as I did Free Some Day. I think this title is more academic in nature, less engaging for me.

[Poppy]

rival geography was a good point

[Dean Oken]

a powerful look at every day resistance under slavery and the reclamation of bodily autonomy

[Sandra Oldfield]

Great book. It took me a long time to read although it is not a long book because there was such great, new information in it.

[Alexandra]

Sometimes you read a book that makes you understand theory in practice

[Lola]

Ruang, Tubuh, dan Perlawanan.

Simak review lengkapnya => https://medium.com/lentera-literasi/c...

[Krystie Herndon]

Instructive, providing hitherto unknown details of the lives of enslaved Black women in the U.S. South.

[Morel]

Connect With Me! | YouTube

Reviewed in this video: RAVING about my fave poetry book, 2 other faves, & 14 other books ✨ (not so) recent reads... 🔥

Rating: 5 stars ★★★★★

Book Trigger Warnings: Reviewer-Provided Trigger Warnings with the Storygraph

[Olivia]

4/5