The second middle passage: The transition from slavery to freedom at Davis Bend, Mississippi
Abstract
This study looks at the transition from slavery to freedom at Davis' Bend, Mississippi. It is concerned with the process by which one group of slaves became free men and women, the ways in which they defined freedom and how their definitions were shaped by their experience as slaves, by war-time and postwar policies emanating from different federal agencies and by the environment of postwar racial restrictions and proscription. It focuses, in particular, on former slaves of Joseph E. Davis, a Mississippi planter and large slaveholder known in his region for embracing paternalism as a model for slave management and seeks in part to show how paternalism could shape the ideas of slaves about freedom. Its findings support historical studies that view planter paternalism as a negotiating ground between slaves and masters and that see land ownership as an important component of former slaves' definition of freedom. When they did not receive portions of their former owners' lands, many former slaves turned to an ideology of self-segregation, self-help and economic development in the arena of all-black communities.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Woodman, Purdue University.
Subject Area
American history|Black history
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