Context and Methodology

About the lecture

In this module, we provide a broad introduction to the history of slavery in the United States as well as thinking about some of the key sources for understanding what life was like for enslaved women. In particular, we think about: (i) the rapid expansion of the enslaved population in the United States between the late 18th and mid-19th centuries; (ii) the importance of women in the replenishment of the slave stock, particularly after the abolition of the slave trade in 1807; and (iii) the ‘archival silences’ surrounding the lives of enslaved women, and the importance of sources such as Harriet Jacobs’ ‘Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl’ and the WPA interviews conducted with formerly enslaved people in the 1930s.

About the lecturer

Emily West is Professor of History at the University of Reading. Her research interests centre on issues of race and gender in American history, especially in relation to slavery in the US South. Her recent publications include Enslaved Women in America: From Colonial Times to Emancipation (2014) and Family or Freedom: Free People of Color in the Antebellum South (2012).