Colonial Complexions: Race and Bodies in Eighteenth-Century America

In Colonial Complexions, historian Sharon Block explores how Anglo-Americans constructed racial ideologies by transforming physical appearance descriptions into racist reality through advertisements for fugitive servants and slaves in colonial newspapers. She highlights how complexion did not have a stable or singular meaning in the eighteenth century and how colonists justified a race-based slave labor system by accumulating differences in the bodies they described. Block's book offers alternative possibilities to modern formulations of racial identities and provides a precise historical analysis of the beliefs behind evolving notions of race-based differences in North American history.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 232 pages
Publication date: 07 May 2021
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

In her groundbreaking work, Colonial Complexions, historian Sharon Block delves into the intricate process by which Anglo-Americans crafted racial ideologies from mere descriptions of physical appearance. Through a meticulous analysis of over 4,000 advertisements for fugitive servants and slaves in colonial newspapers, coupled with a wealth of transatlantic sources, Block unveils how colonists transformed observable characteristics into racist realities. Building upon her expertise in digital humanities, Block reimagines these well-known historical texts to shed light on how everyday language shaped the concept of race and identity before the emergence of scientific racism.

In the eighteenth century, the realm of racial assumptions was far more complex than mere skin color. A multitude of factors, including facial features, hair texture, and body shape, played a significant role in shaping racial perceptions. However, the concept of complexion did not possess a stable or singular meaning. Colonists justified a race-based slave labor system not by opposing black and white but by accumulating differences in the bodies they described. Racism was made real by marking variation from a norm on some bodies and variation as the norm on others. This subtle systemization of racism naturalized enslavement into bodily description, erased Native American heritage, and privileged life history as a crucial marker of free status, exclusively reserved for individuals with European-based identities.

Colonial Complexions presents a thought-provoking alternative to contemporary formulations of racial identities. It offers a precise historical analysis of the beliefs that underpinned the evolution of notions of race-based differences in North American history. By delving into the intricate interplay between language, perception, and power, Block provides a valuable contribution to our understanding of the complex and multifaceted history of race in the region.

Weight: 366g
Dimension: 152 x 228 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780812224924