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Perfectly White: Light-Skinned Slaves and the Abolition Movement 1835 - 1865

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dc.contributor.authorAtkins Jr, David Leeen
dc.contributor.committeechairQuigley, Paulen
dc.contributor.committeememberShadle, Brett L.en
dc.contributor.committeememberMilteer, Warren Eugeneen
dc.contributor.departmentHistoryen
dc.date.accessioned2017-06-30T08:00:27Zen
dc.date.available2017-06-30T08:00:27Zen
dc.date.issued2017-06-29en
dc.description.abstractThis project looks at American abolitionists use of light-skinned slaves to prove to Northerners slavery was an abomination. This project is also a study of the social constructions of race and the meanings of skin color in Northern and Southern American societies. This research draws mostly upon primary sources including anti-slavery newspapers, images, slave narratives, and slave testimonies. The stories of light-skinned slaves in this thesis challenged the neat assumptions of what it meant to be white or black and deeply disturbed white Americans. The descriptions and images of these former slaves blurred the lines between black and white and made Northerners, and in some instances Southerners, rethink how they decided a person's racial classification. Light-skinned slaves were living proof of the evils of the American slave system and they were one of the tools abolitionists used to help end slavery.en
dc.description.abstractgeneralThis project uses newspaper articles, slave testimonies, slave narratives, etchings, and photographs to show how American abolitionists used light-skinned slaves to fight against slavery. The stories of light-skinned slaves in these sources point to the rape of slave women and the mistreatment of slaves and slave families on Southern American plantations. Abolitionists used these slaves and their stories to prove to Northern audiences that slavery was evil and a system that should not be allowed to continue. Light-skinned slaves were living proof of the evils of the American slave system and they were one of the tools abolitionists used to help end slavery. Also, the descriptions and images of these former slaves blurred the lines between black and white and made Northerners, and in some instances Southerners, rethink how they decided a person’s racial classification. Light-skinned slaves did not easily fit into a white or black racial categories and this made nineteenth century Americans redefine what it meant to be white or black.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Artsen
dc.format.mediumETDen
dc.identifier.othervt_gsexam:11886en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/78283en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectslaveryen
dc.subjectabolitionen
dc.titlePerfectly White: Light-Skinned Slaves and the Abolition Movement 1835 - 1865en
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.disciplineHistoryen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Artsen

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