As the major gateway into British North America for travelers on the Underground Railroad; the U.S./Canadian border along the Detroit River was a boundary that determined whether thousands of enslaved people of African descent could reach a place of freedom and opportunity. In A Fluid Frontier: Slavery; Resistance; and the Underground Railroad in the Detroit River Borderland; editors Karolyn Smardz Frost and Veta Smith Tucker explore the experiences of the area's freedom-seekers and advocates; both black and white; against the backdrop of the social forces-legal; political; social; religious; and economic-that shaped the meaning of race and management of slavery on both sides of the river.In five parts; contributors trace the beginnings of and necessity for transnational abolitionist activism in this unique borderland; and the legal and political pressures; coupled with African Americans' irrepressible quest for freedom; that led to the growth of the Underground Railroad. A Fluid Frontier details the founding of African Canadian settlements in the Detroit River region in the first decades of the nineteenth century with a focus on the strong and enduring bonds of family; faith; and resistance that formed between communities in Michigan and what is now Ontario. New scholarship offers unique insight into the early history of slavery and resistance in the region and describes individual journeys: the perilous crossing into Canada of sixteen-year-old Caroline Quarlls; who was enslaved by her own aunt and uncle; the escape of the Crosswhite family; who eluded slave catchers in Marshall; Michigan; with the help of others in the town; and the international crisis sparked by the escape of Lucie and Thornton Blackburn and others.With a foreword by David W. Blight; A Fluid Frontier is a truly bi-national collection; with contributors and editors evenly split between specialists in Canadian and American history; representing both community and academic historians. Scholars of the Underground Railroad as well as those in borderland studies will appreciate the interdisciplinary mix and unique contributions of this volume.
#1285309 in Books University of Virginia Press 1997-01-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.02 x .80 x 5.98l; 1.14 #File Name: 081392040X335 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Academic ExtrapolationsBy Cabin DwellerThe individual slave is dis-serviced by the collective treatment. Slave owners and other colonial figures had diaries and court records and census details and so many other things that the American slaves did not. Lorena Walsh repeats this over and over again. Her message is empowerment of the slave; not only for her benefit as a historian needing a readership but for the Nat Turners of history. The sad truth must be noted; however; that regardless of slavery and regardless of any interaction with Europe whatsoever; those that became slaves were not creating a written legacy in Africa in any regard. Nigeria and its neighbors were not creating Gutenberg; Galileo; Newton; Shakespeare; Luther; Bach; Da Vinci; or Columbus; ad infinitum.We know so much about Dante Alighieri because he was not African; and by that I mean not born in Africa; not because of slavery.When Walsh is not proselytizing about what historians have worked too little to unearth about Virginia slaves as far back as 1650; she is alternating between highly tedious examinations of names; such as the conversion of African names to African-Virginian names to outright Anglo names; often with one less syllable; for American-born slaves; and specific; entertaining anecdotes. Walsh derives as much meaning from these changes as a good historian can. In the process; she sympathizes with all of the New World shocks; from weather to environment to learning a new language. Men came over with names like Sambo; knowing no English. The next generation included more women; and more men had names like Tom and Back Tom. The next generation had more children; and there is even a case of Virginia-born slaves ridiculing their father's tribal dance and old language. Eventually there was a balance of men to women; and of adult to child.On page 61; tobacco is discussed as an African invention to the Europeans; but only by way of Brazil. In 1607; a man named William Finch saw African tobacco for what it would become 150 years later in Virginia; a crop more important even than food crops. On page 105; Walsh discusses graves. "Many West African people placed goods inside graves as presents to the ancestors or ... to assist on the journey in the spirit world;" for example a necklace of amethyst-colored glass and clay pipes. This is part pagan; I suppose; but also strikes me as sophisticated and generous; generous for example because these graves were not robbed. Just a few pages later; there is a reference to Christianity. I doubt the sentence can be confined to the 1730s only; but Walsh points out that during that decade; conversion became rumored as a way to obtain freedom.The Bray school for black children; it's on page 129. How does this get 1 page only?In an effort to emphasize the blacks in the book; the author does not discuss the Carters with any depth at all. There are plenty on top of plenty of books about and by this family; including King Carter; Landon Carter; and the emancipator Robert Carter III. The story of one slave on page 187 shows Walsh's dedication paying off. A mid-17th century slave known both as Johnny and Jack Ash accumulated enough clothes that he placed some by a riverbank to suggest he was drowned; not escaped.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. An Honest History of Slavery in the Historic TriangleBy Jason ParkhouseThe level of detail in this book is amazing. While I learned a great deal about the slave trade in early Virginia; I also learned about the economic; social and even geographic formations of the United States and came away with a deeper appreciation of the Historic Triangle.I also appreciated the honesty of the author in presenting information that was based on scant historical records. The book tells a truth about our nation; it's founding families and practices that may not be so proud; but are part of our history and must be told.11 of 12 people found the following review helpful. An important contribution to the history of slave lifeBy Sandra Parke TopolskiThis is an unusual history; in which Lorena Walsh seeks to investigate the lives of slaves within one related set of Virginia's Burwell family plantations; rather than focusing upon slavery on a larger regional scale. Her subject is Carter's Grove; Virginia; where Walsh is employed as a resident historian; and where historical reenactments suffered from a lack of information on the slaves who worked the plantation in the 18th century. She is therefore motivated primarily to provide a detailed account of the Carter's Grove slaves themselves; though she hopes that her study will help to substantiate more general histories of slavery in Virginia.Walsh begins by tracing the origins of the Carter's Grove slaves; noting that perhaps half came to the plantation from other Virgina slaveholders; while the others arrived directly from Africa. She believes that the diverse backgrounds of the slaves must have resulted in cultural conflict among them at first; but that they eventually assimilated while maintaining some African traditions. By the 1750s; the majority of the plantation's slaves were creolized; resulting in a more stable population where close kin networks led to decreased resistance and more tolerable lives for the slaves. The slaves' material and working conditions also improved over time; as the Burwell family reduced their reliance on tobacco and turned to producing less labor intensive crops like wheat and dairy products for local markets. The emphasis on local trade also allowed slaves to visit among neighboring plantations and strengthen kin networks. Unfortunately; the 1770s saw the Burwell family fortunes decline; and the community at Carter's Grove was broken apart; with some slaves moving to western plantations while others were eventually scattered throughout the state. While nuclear family units were usually kept together; the extended family continued on in importance in the slaves' lives only through oral tradition.Walsh's inquiry is both unique and problematic due to the limitations of her sources. While she hopes that the primary evidence she finds at Carter's Grove (archaeological evidence; planters' records; and 19th century slave memoirs) will help to bolster the conclusions made in more generalized histories of slave life in Virginia; it is difficult at times to determine whether her conclusions are drawn entirely form her primary sources; or whether she is simply using secondary literature to guide her in understanding the evidence from Carter's Grove. Moreover; at times her conclusions; while creative; are based on little evidence at all; such as when she assumes cultural conflict between creole and African slaves. Such hypotheses are sensible; but there is little actual evidence to support them. Nonetheless; this is an important study for anyone seriously interested in the history of slave life and culture in 18th century Virgina; and a model for future inquiries in the field.
