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Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: September 1, 2020 at 8:22:04 AM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Early-America]: Colby on Churchill, 'The > Underground Railroad and the Geography of Violence in Antebellum America' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Robert H. Churchill. The Underground Railroad and the Geography of > Violence in Antebellum America. New York Cambridge University > Press, 2020. 236 pp. $24.99 (paper), ISBN 978-1-108-73346-5. > > Reviewed by Robert Colby (Christopher Newport University) > Published on H-Early-America (September, 2020) > Commissioned by Kelly K. Sharp > > In 1838, guided by local activist Mahlon Stanton and hounded by > would-be slave catchers, two fugitives from slavery--a husband and > wife--wended their way through central Ohio. As the trio approached > the Scioto River, however, pursuing slave catchers overtook them. In > an effort to protect the couple who had entrusted themselves to his > care, Stanton demanded that they receive any and all legal > protections the state offered, arguing that they could not be > remanded into slavery "from the free state of Ohio unless" their > captors "did so by law" (p. 102). Ultimately, however, neither the > laws of Ohio nor those of the United States gave much shelter to the > men and women fleeing slavery. A local judge handed over the fugitive > couple to their enslaver and, in doing so, exposed them to the > possibilities of torture and sale that often awaited recaptured > bondspeople. In spite of the judge's ruling, one last hope remained. > As the judge heard the enslaved pair's case, a crowd estimated at > three thousand strong had assembled. Throughout the North, much more > modest antislavery gatherings had regularly proved sufficient to pry > fugitives from the grasp of slaveholders and the law alike. But that > would not happen here. The crowd, upon learning that the law had been > followed and that the legitimate outcome (however unfortunate) had > been reached, stepped aside and watched slavers carry the unhappy > couple back to Kentucky and bondage. > > Both the hearing that this couple received and the crowd's refusal to > actively intervene on their behalf, Robert Churchill suggests, were > contingencies deeply rooted in the specific place and time of their > attempted ride on the Underground Railroad. In _The Underground > Railroad and the Geography of Violence_, Churchill--Associate > Professor of History at the University of Hartford--ably brings > together numerous strands in the literature on this elusive > institution and demonstrates the centrality of geography and > chronology to the experiences of riders and conductors on the > Railroad. Pushing back on the one hand against a historiography that > depicts the Underground Railroad as either a highly structured, > virtually omnipresent network or as a scattering of über-local > phenomena and on the other against the atomizing tendencies of > locally focused studies and close readings of singular events, > Churchill constructs a compelling overview of efforts to aid fugitive > slaves in the decades before the Civil War. Working outward from > narratives produced by men and women who either were themselves > fugitives from bondage or counted themselves among their supporters > (and making particular use of the interviews and other records > assembled by the historian Wilbur Siebert at the turn of the > twentieth century), he argues that experiences on the Underground > Railroad were shaped predominantly by geographically fueled cultural > clashes. These encounters occurred as communities in the free states > collided with emissaries of the slaveholding South on terms > determined in large part by their relative distance from slaveholding > spaces and the cultural norms these spaces inculcated. The > accumulated weight of these clashes, in turn, increasingly > radicalized the culture surrounding fugitivity in the United States > and, in doing so, heightened the broader political crisis the nation > confronted over slavery. > > Across seven chapters, Churchill traces the Underground Railroad's > development in three geographic regions. In what he terms the > Borderlands--broadly defined as the counties from Iowa to New Jersey > immediately abutting or only slightly removed from legal slavery, as > well as cities like Philadelphia and New York--slave catchers held > sway. Their proximity to slavery, as well as the relative tolerance > exhibited by a population that often maintained deep cultural ties to > the slave South, meant that in these areas those seeking to retrieve > slaves could practice what Churchill terms "the violence of mastery" > with relative impunity. Responding to the constant threat of > violence, antislavery activists in this region adapted a > flight-or-fight mentality. Wherever possible, a well-defined, > interracial cadre of helpers emphasized speed and secrecy, moving > fugitives between preestablished sanctuaries in order to remain ahead > of pursuers. If challenged, they defended themselves violently; > lacking widespread popular support, they instead mobilized highly > localized majorities' collective power to fend off threats from > would-be slave catchers. > > If fugitives successfully escaped the Borderlands, they moved into > what Churchill calls the "Contested Region." Comprising most of > Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, as well as the southern > tier of New York counties, this area provided a limited respite for > fugitives. Espousing a "culture of dignity," its denizens celebrated > the rights and value of the individual while also valuing the > bourgeois traits of "self-discipline, moderation, and restraint" over > the honor-centered violence that pervaded the slaveholding South (pp. > 89-90). Most significantly for fled slaves, inhabitants of the > Contested Region respected the rule of law. This proved a > double-edged sword; the law could protect fugitives from arbitrary > kidnapping and reenslavement, but given the constitutionally mandated > protections enslavers enjoyed, it could just as easily send them to > their legal owners--a reality locals would countenance without > significant protest. Both fugitive slaves and slaveholders could thus > find allies in this region if they successfully appealed to the > values its inhabitants touted. In the Contested Region, moreover, the > Underground Railroad became diffuse and impersonal due in large part > to the lack of the urgency required in the Borderlands (particularly > on the part of white participants, who faced limited consequences for > aiding fugitives). > > The final space escapees from slavery encountered was the "Free Soil" > North, called such not for its adherence to the political party of > the same name, but for its people's proactive efforts to render their > localities utterly inhospitable to slavery's effects. In towns and > counties stretching from Wisconsin to the Western Reserve of Ohio, > New York's Burnt-Over District, and New England, black and white > residents reveled in their disdain for slave catchers and performed > their derision by rising _en masse_ upon their arrival in > communities. In doing so, they actively spurned their legal > obligation to return slaves, forcefully demonstrating that they were > capable of making their homes safe for fugitives. Their motivations > for doing so were diverse, but the citizenry of the Free Soil region > collectively appropriated and inverted the violence slaveholders so > willingly practiced. Instead of preserving slave property, they > liberated people, and in doing so demonstrated an authority designed > to counter that enslavers demanded. > > Persistent efforts by Underground Railroad activists in all three > regions--but particularly the Free Soil North--encouraged > slaveholders and their allies to pursue the passage of the Fugitive > Slave Act of 1850. Rather than universally strengthening enslavers' > hands, however, this measure escalated tensions within all three > regions. It did augment the power of slavery's handmaidens in the > Borderlands, but at the cost of rendering slavery's hold in the > Contested and Free Soil regions increasingly untenable. By > strengthening the hands of slave catchers and binding those of local > authorities, the Fugitive Slave Act provoked ever more violent > resistance in the Free Soil areas (Churchill suggests more than > three-quarters of attempts to extract fugitive slaves in this area > met with efforts to liberate them). Just as importantly, it upset the > balance and respect for law, order, and human rights that citizens of > the Contested Region demanded. Because of its violent aftermath--and > because Southerners perceived it to have failed utterly--the Fugitive > Slave Act pulsed through the Underground Railroad's geography of > violence and, in doing so, helped drive the nation apart. > > The broad chronological and geographic scope of this relatively trim > volume make it inevitable that there are places readers will be left > wanting more. For example, Churchill frames the violence slaveholders > inflicted upon both fugitives and those who interposed themselves > between master and slave as fundamentally a question of honor. One > wonders whether it might not be equally useful to examine this > through the lens of the continual struggle between master and slave, > as an extension of the Lockean state of war through which many > scholars understand slavery. Viewing the Underground Railroad through > this framework might enable more extensive connections with > enslavement, marronage, and mobility in the US and the Atlantic > world. Additionally, given the importance that historians of legal > culture have attributed to localism--and particularly its relevance > for the treatment of enslaved people and people of color in Southern > courts--a broader discussion of the significance of local customs, > relationships, and the practical functioning of the law in the > designated regions seems appropriate. Churchill addresses the > importance of communal norms in the context of "ceremonies of > degradation;" examining the intersection of such practices with > formal procedures of law and order would add a fresh layer to his > analysis (pp. 129-130). > > Given its proximity in both publication date and topic to R. J. M. > Blackett's much-lauded _The Captive's Quest for Freedom _(2018), > comparisons between the two works will be inevitable--but Churchill's > work compares favorably to its larger cousin. His volume avoids the > highly granular examinations of specific incidents which Blackett > (deservedly) has received high praise for recovering and > recounting--a necessary choice in a volume that covers several more > decades in half the pages. And while their conclusions regarding the > Fugitive Slave Act share similarities, _The Underground Railroad and > the Geography of Violence in Antebellum America_ offers much that is > highly useful thanks to its framing the act within the longer history > of the Railroad--and thanks to its overall digestibility. Churchill, > moreover, does not stint on the detail, but rather offers a > comprehensive yet finely textured history of this elusive and > oft-misunderstood institution in which he deftly navigates between > local histories and case studies and the overarching realities of the > era. He does so thanks to a deep knowledge of secondary sources and a > straightforward yet analytically effective framework, which permits > him to cover a broad geographic and chronological space without > sacrificing the intimate encounters, personal heroism, and tragic > violence that defined individuals' bids for freedom. Churchill's > study thus offers a fresh vantage point on a complicated portion of > American history while illuminating anew the Underground Railroad's > significance in American life, one that will inform specialists and > the general public alike. > > Citation: Robert Colby. Review of Churchill, Robert H., _The > Underground Railroad and the Geography of Violence in Antebellum > America_. H-Early-America, H-Net Reviews. September, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55145 > > 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 (#1062): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/1062 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/76560744/21656 -=-=- 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]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
