A01=James O'Neil Spady
Abolition
Anti-slavery
Author_James O'Neil Spady
Black anti-slavery
Category=JBSL
Category=NHB
Category=NHK
Category=NHTS
Category=WQH
Charleston SC
Christopher Jeannerett
colonialism
Criminal conspiracy trials
Denmark Vesey
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_new_release
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
executions
free and enslaved workers
fugitivity
Gold Coast
Gullah
Gullah Jack
Lionell Kennedy
lynchings
Mapping
Monday Gell
racial capitalism
slave conspiracies
slave rebellion
Slave trading (trafficking)
Slavery
South Carolina
Tanzania
Thomas Bennet
Thomas Parker
Urban slavery
women and slave resistance
Zanzibar
Product details
- ISBN 9781469686370
- Dimensions: 25 x 235mm
- Publication Date: 20 Jan 2026
- Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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In 822, Black Charlestonians attempted to overthrow slavery. They were exposed before they could strike, and many were tried and executed in what has come to be known as the Denmark Vesey Affair. Take Freedom reinterprets these events on the basis of new evidence and methods. James O'Neil Spady narrates the roles of a variety of Black men and women, arguing that the uprising was a broadly based, African-influenced social movement that marshaled radical love and fugitive practices of freedom to ignite a revolution that sought to liberate beloved friends, families, and communities from increasingly aggressive and racializing slaveowners.
Uncovering never-before-consulted, unpublished documents, Spady names the clerk who made the trial records and settles old arguments about their reliability. Take Freedom demonstrates the realism of the uprising movement's strategy and uses social network mapping to illustrate the social dynamics within the Black community, emphasizing the roles of women and relationships among enslaved people. Ultimately, this book offers a more inclusive and accurate portrayal of this pivotal yet understudied revolutionary movement.
Uncovering never-before-consulted, unpublished documents, Spady names the clerk who made the trial records and settles old arguments about their reliability. Take Freedom demonstrates the realism of the uprising movement's strategy and uses social network mapping to illustrate the social dynamics within the Black community, emphasizing the roles of women and relationships among enslaved people. Ultimately, this book offers a more inclusive and accurate portrayal of this pivotal yet understudied revolutionary movement.
James O'Neil Spady is associate professor of American history at Soka University.
