'I am persuaded it is done with their knowledge and connivance': Black elders, fugitivity, and community in American slavery

Doddington, David ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8658-0266 2025. 'I am persuaded it is done with their knowledge and connivance': Black elders, fugitivity, and community in American slavery. Journal of American History Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

This article focuses on the role Black elders played in crafting resistant cultures and building supportive communities in American slavery. I show how older slaves performed certain acts that enabled the resistance of others, and address their motives for doing so – whether presumed by external narrators or stated directly by the elder(s) themselves. I show that advanced age did not invariably stop enslaved people from participating in fight or flight themselves, even if they made up a small proportion of those who successfully found permanent freedom. In doing so, I emphasize not only the collective bonds and community dynamics that helped foster resistance among the enslaved, but I also underline the agency and endeavor of those who had suffered a lifetime of forced labor.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > History, Archaeology and Religion
Publisher:	Oxford University Press (OUP)
ISSN:	0021-8723
Funders:	Leverhulme
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	4 August 2025
Date of Acceptance:	1 August 2025
Last Modified:	08 Oct 2025 12:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/180218

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