HomeThe Emancipation of Bound Laborers in the Americas before the Abolition of Slavery
The Emancipation of Bound Laborers in the Americas before the Abolition of Slavery
L'émancipation des travailleurs non-libres dans les Amériques avant l'abolition de l'esclavage
Published on mardi, mai 24, 2016
Summary
What were the modalities of the emancipation of unfree workers? Which factors motivated the adoption of legislation regulating emancipations? Is it possible to establish a typology of the emancipators and of the emancipated servants and slaves? To what extent did slaves and indentured servants take part in their own liberation? Did the introduction of slavery provide any negotiating power to white servants, for instance by reducing their length of service? Did the practice of emancipation evolve in reaction to the advent of abolitionism, especially after the movement gained momentum and radicalized itself?
Announcement
Argument
Building on a first one-day conference which dealt with the legal codification of unfree labor, this second conference would like to examine the emancipation of bound workers in the Americas before the abolition of slavery. An emancipation is a legal act which frees an individual from the authority of a master. Whereas indentured servants were granted their freedom at the end of their term of service, which was specified in their contract, manumission remained a privilege for slaves who were to serve on a perpetual and hereditary basis. The paths to freedom were subject to a range of legal and contractual regulations which varied geographically and over time. Freedom could be achieved by a variety of means: at the expiration of a contract term, when a sentence had been served, by an early liberation, by (self) purchase, by emancipation, as well as by unusual methods such as engaging in non-marital relationships, by filing law suits or by absconding. Although emancipation was used as a mechanism of controlling unfree workers, it sometimes generated social tensions — for instance, when it led to the growth of the free black population of slave societies.
What were the modalities of the emancipation of unfree workers? Which factors motivated the adoption of legislation regulating emancipations? Is it possible to establish a typology of the emancipators and of the emancipated servants and slaves? To what extent did slaves and indentured servants take part in their own liberation? Did the introduction of slavery provide any negotiating power to white servants, for instance by reducing their length of service? Did the practice of emancipation evolve in reaction to the advent of abolitionism, especially after the movement gained momentum and radicalized itself? To what extent did the practice of emancipation raise social, political, economic and public security stakes? How did masters accompany and facilitate their servant or their slave's transition from the status of a bond person to that of a free person? Was the social integration of freed servants and of manumitted slaves influenced by the factors which had enabled their emancipation, as well as by their former legal status, their racial or their national origin? These are some of the many questions this one-day conference will endeavor to answer.
Submission guidelines
The languages of the one-day conference will be French and English.
For consideration, please submit a paper proposal of 300 words and a 1 page CV to emancipation2016@gmail.com
by June 1st, 2016
A selection of papers presented at the conference will be published.
The study day will take place on October 7, 2016.
Scientific coordinators
- Lawrence Aje (Université Paul -Valéry, Montpellier 3 - EMMA)
- Anne-Claire Fauquez (Université Panthéon - Assas - EA 1569: Transferts critiques et dynamiques des savoirs, Université Paris VIII)
- Elodie Peyrol-Kleiber (Université de Poitiers - MIMMOC)
Subjects
- America (Main subject)
- Society > Geography > Migration, immigration, minorities
- Periods > Modern > Nineteenth century
- Periods > Early modern
- Society > History > Labour history
- Society > History > Social history
- Mind and language > Epistemology and methodology
- Society > Law
Places
- Université Paul Valéry - Montpellier III
Montpellier, France (34)
Date(s)
- mercredi, juin 01, 2016
Keywords
- espace atlantique, émancipation, travail contraint, esclavage
Contact(s)
- Lawrence Aje
courriel : lawrence [dot] aje [at] univ-montp3 [dot] fr
Information source
- Lawrence Aje
courriel : lawrence [dot] aje [at] univ-montp3 [dot] fr
To cite this announcement
« The Emancipation of Bound Laborers in the Americas before the Abolition of Slavery », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on mardi, mai 24, 2016, https://calenda-formation.labocleo.org/367484
