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The University of North Carolina Press
272 pp., 61/8 x 91/4, 34 illus., 5 tables, 2 maps, appends., notes, bibl., index
Slaves, Free Blacks, and the Western Steamboat World
All along the Mississippi--on country plantation landings, urban levees and quays, and the decks of steamboats--nineteenth-century African Americans worked and fought for their liberty amid the slave trade and the growth of the cotton South. Offering a counternarrative to Twain's well-known tale from the perspective of the pilothouse, Thomas C. Buchanan paints a more complete picture of the Mississippi, documenting the rich variety of experiences among slaves and free blacks who lived and worked on the lower decks and along the river during slavery, through the Civil War, and into emancipation.
Buchanan explores the creative efforts of steamboat workers to link riverside African American communities in the North and South. The networks African Americans created allowed them to keep in touch with family members, help slaves escape, transfer stolen goods, and provide forms of income that were important to the survival of their communities. The author also details the struggles that took place within the steamboat work culture. Although the realities of white supremacy were still potent on the river, Buchanan shows how slaves, free blacks, and postemancipation freedpeople fought for better wages and treatment.
By exploring the complex relationship between slavery and freedom, Buchanan sheds new light on the ways African Americans resisted slavery and developed a vibrant culture and economy up and down America's greatest river.
"A valuable contribution to the ever-expanding literature on American slavery and freedom. . . . The book deserves a wide readership."
--Civil War History
"Makes a welcome and significant contribution to the history of slavery and African Americans with this interesting and well-researched work."
--Journal of the Early Republic
"A terrific read. . . . This is social and economic history at its best."
--Journal of American History
"In this thoroughly researched and elegantly written book, Buchanan recreates the lives of the tens of thousands of African-Americans who labored on the Mississippi and its tributaries. . . . Thanks to [his] prodigious investigation and eloquent prose, the real-life Jims who peopled the river banks and towns have at long last had their stories told."
--American Historical Review
"[Buchanan] highlights the paradoxical nature of the Mississippi and the mobility afforded river workers. . . . An important addition the literature on U.S. slavery."
--Journal of African American Studies
"Buchanan has indeed illuminated how valuable the Mississippi steamboat industry was to the African American community."
--Journal of Southern History
Cloth: $37.50
Paper: $18.95
© 2007 The University of North Carolina Press
116 South Boundary Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514-3808
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