classics

Helping those in need

Visit Site

MP3 Audio Sample

rating
 
 
goodreads logo

Short Synopsis
Becoming Free, Becoming Black shows that the law of freedom, not slavery, determined the way that race developed over time in three slave societies.

Full Synopsis
How did Africans become "blacks" in the Americas? Becoming Free, Becoming Black tells the story of enslaved and free people of color who used the law to claim freedom and citizenship for themselves and their loved ones. Their communities challenged slaveholders' efforts to make blackness synonymous with slavery. Looking closely at three slave societies—Cuba, Virginia, and Louisiana—Alejandro de la Fuente and Ariela J. Gross demonstrate that the law of freedom—not slavery—established the meaning of blackness in law. Contests over freedom determined whether and how it was possible to move from slave to free status, and whether claims to citizenship would be tied to racial identity. Laws regulating the lives and institutions of free people of color created the boundaries between black and white, the rights reserved to white people, and the degradations imposed only on black people.

Becoming Free, Becoming Black

Race, Freedom, and Law in Cuba, Virginia, and Louisiana

Author Alejandro de la Fuente, Ariela J. Gross

Narrated by Gary Tiedemann

Publication date Feb 9, 2021

Running time 10 hrs

Available Formats

Suggestions?
Let us know!