Description:
Slaves fought against their subhuman treatment in myriad ways, from passive resistance to armed insurrection. They defined their sense of self and shared humanity through an unquenchable desire to seek freedom from their oppressors. The variety of methods used by slaves to resist the institution that sought to subjugate them indicates the immense fiction that they were lesser creatures animated only by brutish instinct. The many acts of slave resistance and rebellion essentially defined the humanity of the slave. This encyclopedia details how slaves struggled against their bondage, highlights key revolts, and delves into important cultural and religious ideas that nurtured slaves' hunger for freedom. Though the primary focus is North America, the work's scope also includes the immensely important slave resistance developments in the Caribbean and South America. Selected studies of slave resistance from classical antiquity will also be considered in this work.
Brief description:
Junius P. Rodriguez is Associate Professor of History at Eureka College. He specializes in African-American history and has done extensive research on slave revolts. He is general editor of the award-winning Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery (1997) and of Chronology of World Slavery (1999). He was also the 1997 recipient of the Helen Cleaver Distinguished Teaching Award.
Review Quotes:
"Both of these two entries in Greenwoods Milestones in African American History series offer a solid foothold for high school or college students beginning research on slave resistance or abolition. They cover people, places, philosophies, and popular culture and share many common features: readable, signed A-to-Z entries with short source lists; general bibliographies; chronologies; black-and-white illustrations; and subject indexes....Rodriguezs U.S.-focused Slave Resistance features some 300 cross-referenced entries, all detailed and insightful. It also includes 100 pages of primary documents ranging from transcribed congressional debates to slave narratives. Treatment is balanced; e.g., an entry on Roots author Alexander Haley mentions controversies (authenticity, plagiarism) surrounding his work but also highlights his achievements....Recommended for high school, college, and large public libraries. (Reviewed in conjunction with Encyclopedia of Antislavery and Abolition, Hinks & McKivigan, Greenwood Press)"
-- "Library Journal
"