Brooding Over Bloody Revenge - Enslaved Women's Lethal Resistance

From the colonial through the antebellum era, enslaved women in the US used lethal force as the ultimate form of resistance. By amplifying their voices and experiences, Brooding over Bloody Revenge strongly challenges assumptions that enslaved women only participated in covert, non-violent forms of resistance, when in fact they consistently seized justice for themselves and organized toward revolt. Nikki M. Taylor expertly reveals how women killed for deeply personal instances of injustice committed by their owners. The stories presented, which span centuries and legal contexts, demonstrate that these acts of lethal force were carefully pre-meditated. Enslaved women planned how and when their enslavers would die, what weapons and accomplices were necessary, and how to evade capture in the aftermath. Original and compelling, Brooding Over Bloody Revenge presents a window into the lives and philosophies of enslaved women who had their own ideas about justice and how to achieve it.

List of contents

Introduction; 1. Phillis and Phoebe; 2. Annis, Phillis, and Lucy; 3. Cloe; 4. Rose Butler; 5. Jane Williams; 6. Nelly, Betsy, and Ellen; 7. Lucy; Conclusion.

About the author

Nikki M. Taylor is Professor and Chair in the Department of History at Howard University. She specializes in nineteenth-century African American History. This is her fourth book.

Summary

Using case studies from the colonial through to the antebellum era, this book examines the lives and experiences of enslaved women who used lethal force as the ultimate form of resistance. Original and compelling, this book is for general readers interested in US history and social justice.

Report

'Nikki Taylor presents a compelling narrative not only of Black women's deadly force, but also of their organized and collective resistance. This study complicates the agency of women such as Nelly, Betsy, and Ellen, and dispels the idea that enslaved women were passive and powerless.' Karen Cook Bell, author of Running from Bondage: Enslaved Women and Their Remarkable Fight for Freedom in Revolutionary America

Product details

• Authors: Nikki M. Taylor, Nikki M. (Howard University Taylor, Taylor Nikki M.
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.06.2023
• EAN: 9781009276849
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0927684-9
• No. of pages: 250
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Modern era up to 1918; Non-fiction book; USA, Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Women's Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Slavery, HISTORY / United States / Colonial Period (1600-1775), HISTORY / United States / 19th Century, HISTORY / Women, c 1800 to c 1900, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, 18th century, c 1700 to c 1799, 17th century, c 1600 to c 1699, United States of America, USA, Gender studies: women, Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700, History of the Americas, Gender studies: women and girls, Slavery & abolition of slavery, 16th century, c 1500 to c 1599, c 1500 to c 1600, C 1600 To C 1700, C 1700 To C 1800, Slavery and abolition of slavery