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Title details for Slavery's Exiles by Sylviane A. Diouf - Available

Slavery's Exiles

The Story of the American Maroons

by Sylviane A. Diouf
Chanté McCormick
Audiobook
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1 of 1 copy available
The forgotten stories of America maroons—wilderness settlers evading discovery after escaping slavery
Over more than two centuries men, women, and children escaped from slavery to make the Southern wilderness their home. They hid in the mountains of Virginia and the low swamps of South Carolina; they stayed in the neighborhood or paddled their way to secluded places; they buried themselves underground or built comfortable settlements. Known as maroons, they lived on their own or set up communities in swamps or other areas where they were not likely to be discovered.
Although well-known, feared, celebrated or demonized at the time, the maroons whose stories are the subject of this book have been forgotten, overlooked by academic research that has focused on the Caribbean and Latin America. Who the American maroons were, what led them to choose this way of life over alternatives, what forms of marronage they created, what their individual and collective lives were like, how they organized themselves to survive, and how their particular story fits into the larger narrative of slave resistance are questions that this book seeks to answer. Audacious, self-confident, autonomous, sometimes self-sufficient, always self-governing; their very existence was a repudiation of the basic tenets of slavery.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 31, 2022

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781666188332
      • File size: 392637 KB
      • Duration: 13:37:59

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 4, 2013
      Diouf (Servants of Allah) tackles a subject that many may not be familiar with: the slaves who escaped from bondage to live free in the wilds of the American South known as maroons. Because direct accounts of these slaves’ lives are rare, where they exist at all, the author takes her information from court records, newspaper articles, and other outside sources. This cobbling together of accounts makes for an uneven narrative, with important pieces missing. Whether a slave lived or died, or was successful as a maroon, is often not revealed. In other instances, the narrative is interrupted by a glut of specifics. Where fact and narrative blend in balance, however, the stories are riveting. Readers will become familiar with colorful characters like Captain Cudjoe of Jamaica or the man nicknamed “Forest” for his skill at hiding, and they will learn surprising facts about maroons’ participation in trade and defense, along with horrific details of punishments. The plight, motivations, and survival methods of the maroons are also covered in their varying modes. This work is best suited for an academic audience, as Diouf tends to assume some familiarity with the history of the maroons, but it’s a notable document for its treatment of the subject.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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