Bound by Bondage: Slavery and the Creation of a Northern Gentry

During the first generations of European settlement in North America, a number of interconnected Northeastern families carved out private empires, and slavery was vital to their rise. Nicole Saffold Maskiell's book Bound by Bondage traces the origins of these private empires from the founding of Northeastern colonies to the eve of the Revolutionary War, revealing a multiracial Early America where enslaved traders, woodsmen, millers, maids, bakers, and groomsmen developed expansive networks of their own that challenged the power of the elites.

Format: Hardback
Length: 306 pages
Publication date: 01 August 2022
Publisher: Cornell University Press

During the early years of European settlement in North America, a group of interconnected Northeastern families established private empires. In her book Bound by Bondage, Nicole Saffold Maskiell contends that slavery played a crucial role in the rise of this aristocracy, and these dynastic families built their prestige through mastery, creating extensive manorial estates and trading networks that extended from the Northeast to the South, the Caribbean, and beyond. Members of this elite class, including mayors, governors, and presidents, were among the largest slaveholders in the North, with aspirations for power that brought together Anglo and Dutch families. Maskiell's research, based on extensive archival research across multiple continents and languages, traces the origins of these private empires from the founding of Northeastern colonies to the eve of the Revolutionary War. She reveals a multiracial Early America, where enslaved traders, woodsmen, millers, maids, bakers, and groomsmen developed extensive networks of their own that challenged the power of the elites, aiding in escapes, trade, and simple camaraderie. Bound by Bondage adds a new chapter to early North American history, connecting Northern networks of merit to slavery.

Weight: 57g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501764240