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Troubling Freedom: Antigua and the Aftermath of British Emancipation
Duke University Press
Copyright:
This content is made freely available by the publisher. It may not be redistributed or altered. All rights reserved.
ISBN electronic:
978-0-8223-7505-0
Publication date:
2015
Book Chapter
“Our Side”: Antigua’s 1858 Uprising and the Contingent Nature of Freedom
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Published:November 2015
This chapter tells the story of the 1858 uprising in the Point neighborhood of St. John’s. Job competition between Antiguan and Barbudan dockworkers sparked the outburst. Over several days, Antiguans progressed from attacking the persons and property of Barbudans to targeting Madeiran retailers, white planters, and, most prominently, black and mixed-race policemen. Gendered violence also unfolded as Antiguan women assaulted Barbudan women in ways that reflected the pervasive devaluation of black women’s bodily integrity in slavery and freedom. The rioters’ goals and the changing targets of their violence hint at their varied and contradictory conceptions of freedom and who should...
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