Best regards, Andrew Stewart - - - Subscribe to the Washington Babylon newsletter via https://washingtonbabylon.com/newsletter/
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: August 21, 2020 at 2:55:25 PM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Slavery]: Glossner on Shefveland, 'Anglo-Native > Virginia: Trade, Conversion, and Indian Slavery in the Old Dominion, > 1646-1722' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Kristalyn Shefveland. Anglo-Native Virginia: Trade, Conversion, and > Indian Slavery in the Old Dominion, 1646-1722. Athens University of > Georgia Press, 2016. 184 pp. $54.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-8203-5025-7. > > Reviewed by Jeffrey Glossner (University of Mississippi) > Published on H-Slavery (August, 2020) > Commissioned by Andrew J. Kettler > > With_ Anglo-Native Virginia: Trade, Conversion, and Indian Slavery in > the Old Dominion, 1646-1722_, Kristalyn Marie Shefveland provides a > compelling new addition to the growing scholarship on the Native > slave trade in British North America. Shefveland's narrative > highlights how Virginia traders and Native groups navigated trade > relations and the failure of attempts by all sides to form a stable > system. Efforts by the colonial government to regulate these trade > relations failed to prevent the violence that was endemic in the > developing Native slave trade. Continuing the recent > historiographical trend of emphasizing the importance of the Native > slave trade to the colonial Southeast and its emerging system of > plantation slavery, Shefveland argues that the colony at the center > of British North American slavery, diplomacy, and trade, Virginia, > was influenced by Native slavery in similarly important ways as > states such as South Carolina. > > During the colonial period, Virginia attempted to control > Native-settler trade relations and, in particular, the trade in > Native slaves. The Virginia tributary system, which Shefveland argues > was inspired by the Spanish model of Native subordination, sought to > bring select Native groups into trade relations with Virginia that > could be controlled and regulated by the Virginia government. > However, these regulations were seldom enforced or followed by > Virginian traders, who sought out lucrative trade relations with both > tributary and nontributary Native groups. The relatively free > marketplace in Native slaves became "central to the vitality of the > settlements in Virginia as the colony moved from a frontier exchange > economy to an emerging plantation economy and slave society" (p. 21). > Shefveland highlights the importance of Native tributary groups > allied with Virginia, giving these groups agency in their relations > with Virginia traders by examining settler documentation of trade and > explaining how these traders misunderstood the agendas of these > people. This viewpoint is particularly illustrative in Shefveland's > engagement with the complexities of relationships between Native > tributaries and nontributaries and how these groups reacted and > influenced the actions of settlers looking to make inroads into the > Virginia interior woodlands. According to Shefveland, "the Southeast > cannot be understood without knowing Virginia, and one cannot > understand Virginia without understanding the interaction between > settlers and Indigenous peoples, between the goals of the tributary > system and its realities" (p. 127). > > Shefveland uses the stories of prominent settlers such as the Byrd > family as an illustration of the importance of Native-settler trade > in shaping Virginia's slave-based plantation economy. The development > of a Native trading empire allowed William Byrd I to solidify the > family name "among the Virginia gentry and allowed his son to enter > into profitable arrangements with local Indians for skins and slaves, > profits which he likely used to build Westover" (p. 126). Through > relations with these prominent Virginia traders and slaveholders, > Shefveland finds a window into the often overlooked period of > Native-settler relations between the the fall of the Powhatan > Confederacy in 1646 and the 1722 Treaty of Albany, finding the Native > slave trade to be central to developments within colonial Virginia. > Shefveland's use of sources is a highlight of the book as she > analyzes colonial law, accounts of traders, wills, diplomatic > correspondence, and other traditional settler documents with an > astute eye toward the influence and agency of Native peoples as well > as the often overlooked prominence of Native enslavement. > > Shefveland begins her narrative with a peace treaty following the end > of Anglo and Powhatan conflict in 1646. Dictated by the English, the > treaty "opened the interior to Anglo-Indian trade and ultimately > placed all members of the Powhatan paramount chiefdom in the > Tidewater under tributary status to the Virginia government" (p. 8). > Importantly, the English required the turning over of Native hostage > children, who were to be assimilated into settler society as a form > of treaty compliance. However, this system did little to make Native > groups subservient to the demands of Virginia traders. Shefveland > recasts the narrative of this period by showing how settlers > conformed their engagements with the backwoods economy to the > structures of Native society. For example, trade routes and the forts > used as hubs for economic activity were placed along existing Native > thoroughfares. Additionally, English traders often struggled to > understand Native expectations of reciprocal bonds and the law of > blood revenge. This often led to the breaking of treaty expectations > and to violence. Despite endemic violence, Native-settler trade > continued to be central to the development of the region. This is > especially true of the Native slave trade. Men like Thomas Stegg, > whose nephew William Byrd I would inherit his slave-trading empire, > positioned themselves within the Virginia woodlands to jockey for > control and influence over the trade. Some Native groups, such as the > Westos, turned to the slave trade and its constituent militarization > as a means of coping with the social destabilization that defined the > period. Trade in guns and enslaved Natives allowed them to control > their own destiny at the same time that it gave them control over > settler access to the interior woodlands. > > The destabilization of the region, Shefveland argues, was directly > related to the trade in enslaved Natives. Working from the "shatter > zone" framework of Native social destabilization and violence, > Shefveland builds off the work of scholars such as Robbie Ethridge > and Paul Kelton in emphasizing the prominence of Native slavery and > settler intrusion in the process of Native dislocation and > reorganization. In what is perhaps the book's most intriguing > historiographical intervention, Shefveland argues that Bacon's > Rebellion can best be described as an "Indian trade war" which came > about due to the "upheaval and anxiety" caused by this process (p. > 45). Colonial actors such as Stegg, Byrd, and Nathaniel Bacon (who > came to the colony with the intent of getting involved in the Native > slave trade) were central in the events that brought about the > conflict. Looking at Bacon's Rebellion within the context of > intra-Native relations and settler involvement in the Native slave > trade provides a new and compelling perspective on these events. As > Shefveland observes, "most of the major histories of colonial > Virginia focus on the arrival of African slavery and the question of > race"; however, focusing on the rebellion only "in terms of its role > in the development of African slavery obfuscates the importance of > Indigenous slavery and of the debate over tributaries in the > development of the rebellion" (p. 49). Susquehannock attacks on Bacon > and Byrd, like one in 1675 which resulted in the death of Bacon's > overseer, worked to spark the conflict and were likely motivated by > the men's involvement in the Native slave trade. These and other > small-scale raids, Shefveland argues, were the beginning of what > would become Bacon's Rebellion. Following a denial from Virginia > governor William Berkeley for an expedition against hostile Native > groups, Bacon led an attack on the tributary group the Occaneechi, > which also served as a strategic move to remove the group from their > role as middlemen in the region's slave trade. Eventually, in a > symbolic act "of his rejection of the entire tributary system and his > effort to dehumanize Native people writ large, Bacon marched to > Jamestown with his captive Indians on display" and burned the city > (p. 54). > > Following Bacon's Rebellion, Virginia drafted peace agreements in > 1677 and outlawed the Native slave trade in 1683 in an effort to > stabilize relations with the region's Native groups. Despite this, > Shefveland finds evidence that trade in Native slaves continued > unabated. Native slaves were bequeathed in wills, and the > long-standing practice of taking Native children as hostage as part > of trade agreements and as payment for debts and crimes continued. > The escalation of trade, slave raids, and the circulation of firearms > continued, expanding the shatter zone and weakening Native efforts to > repel increasing settler encroachment. With the arrival of Governor > Alexander Spotswood in 1710, Virginia began efforts to proselytize > Native groups that they believed could assist in ongoing conflict > with North Carolina. However, Shefveland explains that efforts at > "education and proselytization in Virginia can best be described as > an afterthought," and "some discussion of teaching captive Indian > children the English language as they learned useful trades such as > carpentry or cobbling was a thinly veiled attempt to justify captive > taking and the forced labor of Native children" (p. 89). Ultimately, > the Native slave trade in Virginia declined and Virginians became > more interested in expanding their plantation labor system with > enslaved Africans at least partially because they could no longer > compete with South Carolina in the Native slave trade. Trade, > however, continued between the colonists and Native tributaries as > they became increasingly enmeshed in the "Anglo commodification of > material objects" (p. 127). > > Shefveland centers her study upon on-the-ground relations between > Natives and settlers, taking great care to find the agency of Native > peoples in diplomatic and trade relationships in sources that are > often biased towards settler perspectives. In doing so Shefveland > builds off the important scholarship of historians such as Kathryn E. > Braund, Christina Snyder, and Alan Gallay, who have emphasized the > significance of Native-settler trade and Native slavery to the > broader developments of the colonial Southeast. Shefveland applies > these insights to the story of early Virginia, providing a new window > into the significance of Native-settler relations to the development > of the Virginia system of plantation slavery. While Shefveland makes > considerable contributions to our understanding of Native-settler > relations in early Virginia, she also makes too little reference to > these broader historiographical debates she is engaging. Furthermore, > the dense narrative of this slim book can be confusing at times and > would be strengthened by greater contextualization of these events > and a more detailed explanation of how the various Native groups > viewed each other and how intra-Native relations influenced > Native-settler relations. However, _Anglo-Native Virginia's_ > contributions to our understanding of Native slavery in this period, > and the importance of Native influence on colonial development more > generally, overcome these shortcomings. > > Shefveland's narrative of continued attempts by the colonial > government to control trade and regulate relations with Native > groups, which were consistently bypassed by Virginians themselves, > furthers our understanding of the relationship between colonial > governments and Native peoples and the control they ultimately > wielded over those colonists who participated in Native-settler trade > networks. It also provides great insight into how Native cultural > practices and understandings influenced these relations. Of > particular interest are Shefveland's revelations on the importance of > child-kidnapping to tributary relationships and how this practice > undergirded the system of Native slavery at the same time that it > worked to cause discord between the Native groups participating in > the tributary system. A focus on the gendered aspects of these > relations and cultural misunderstandings also provides unique and > compelling insights into the dynamics of Native-settler relations and > why so many efforts at agreement were met with failure. Shefveland > often emphasizes how the agency of female actors has been downplayed > in the historical record, which has worked to diminish the roles that > both Native and settler women actually played in these events. These > insights run parallel with Shefveland's general achievement in > illuminating the extensive and important role that Native agency > played in developments that have previously been seen as only within > the purview of settler society. She effectively illustrates that > while Native people thought they could bring settlers "into kinship > bonds," they "quickly learned that the Europeans would not act as > proper kinsmen." However, "the most skilled European traders quickly > learned that they had to understand Native ways of trade and act as > kinsmen in order to gain access to Native slaves, skins, and furs" > (p. 127). While the narrative relies on the records and perspectives > of Virginian elites, Shefveland is able to overcome these obstacles > by providing an adept illustration of the reciprocal relationships > that defined these events and the importance of cultural exchanges > that came from all sides. In the process, she provides a new > historical narrative that should serve to revolutionize important > aspects of our understanding of the history of early Virginia. > > Citation: Jeffrey Glossner. Review of Shefveland, Kristalyn, > _Anglo-Native Virginia: Trade, Conversion, and Indian Slavery in the > Old Dominion, 1646-1722_. H-Slavery, H-Net Reviews. August, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=54593 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#664): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/664 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/76339895/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES<br />#1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.<br />#2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived.<br />#3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
