Freedom Seekers : Fugitive Slaves in North America, 1800–1860

Taking a continental approach, Freedom Seekers introduces a new conceptualization of 'spaces of freedom' in North America, revealing the diversity of slave fight by dividing the continent into three distinct (and continuously evolving) spaces. An essential study for students of African-American history and the American South.

In this fascinating book, Damian Alan Pargas introduces a new conceptualization of ''spaces of freedom'' for fugitive slaves in North America between 1800 and 1860, and answers the questions: How and why did enslaved people flee to – and navigate – different destinations throughout the continent, and to what extent did they succeed in evading recapture and re-enslavement? Taking a continental approach, this study highlights the diversity of slave fight by conceptually dividing the continent into three distinct – and continuously evolving – spaces of freedom. Namely, spaces of informal freedom in the US South, where enslaved people attempted to flee by passing as free blacks; spaces of semi-formal freedom in the US North, where slavery was abolished but the precise status of fugitive slaves was contested; and spaces of formal freedom in Canada and Mexico, where slavery was abolished and runaways were considered legally free and safe from re-enslavement.