Brooding over Bloody Revenge: Enslaved Women's Lethal Resistance

by Nikki M. Taylor

Overview

From the colonial through the antebellum era, enslaved women in the US used lethal force as the ultimate form of resistance. By amplifying their voices and experiences, Brooding over Bloody Revenge strongly challenges assumptions that enslaved women only participated in covert, non-violent forms of resistance, when in fact they consistently seized justice for themselves and organized toward revolt. Nikki M. Taylor expertly reveals how women killed for deeply personal instances of injustice committed by their owners. The stories presented, which span centuries and legal contexts, demonstrate that these acts of lethal force were carefully pre-meditated. Enslaved women planned how and when their enslavers would die, what weapons and accomplices were necessary, and how to evade capture in the aftermath. Original and compelling, Brooding Over Bloody Revenge presents a window into the lives and philosophies of enslaved women who had their own ideas about justice and how to achieve it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781009276849
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	07/13/2023
Pages:	250
Sales rank:	405,855
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Nikki M. Taylor is Professor and Chair in the Department of History at Howard University. She specializes in nineteenth-century African American History. This is her fourth book.

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. Phillis and Phoebe; 2. Annis, Phillis, and Lucy; 3. Cloe; 4. Rose Butler; 5. Jane Williams; 6. Nelly, Betsy, and Ellen; 7. Lucy; Conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

04/17/2023

“Enslaved women were not always willing to resist slavery covertly or nonviolently,” according to this intriguing compendium of “lethal slave resistance.” Howard University historian Taylor (Driven Toward Madness) spotlights women throughout colonial and antebellum America who were both willing and able to murder their enslavers, either on their own or as leaders of an insurrection plot. According to one historian Taylor cites, “enslaved men who murdered acted out of impulse or momentary anger,” while women “used a higher degree of premeditation, which made them more effective resistors ultimately.” Drawing on legal records and newspaper coverage, Taylor unearths the stories of Phillis and Phoebe, who slowly poisoned their owner in Charlestown, Mass., in the 1750s; Rose Butler, who led a conspiracy to burn down her master’s house in 1818 Manhattan; Richmonder Jane Williams, who used a hatchet to dispatch her mistress and mistress’s baby in 1852; and Nelly, who acted in conjunction with her daughter and grandchildren to kill their rural Virginian enslaver on Christmas Eve 1856. In rigorous detail, Taylor documents the privations that enslaved women endured, from hunger to sexual abuse, and theorizes on the motivations of those who committed acts of violence. The result is a cogent reconsideration of long-held assumptions about the gendered experience of American slavery. (July)

Publishers Weekly

‘Nikki Taylor presents a compelling narrative not only of Black women’s deadly force, but also of their organized and collective resistance. This study complicates the agency of women such as Nelly, Betsy, and Ellen, and dispels the idea that enslaved women were passive and powerless.’ Karen Cook Bell, author of Running from Bondage: Enslaved Women and Their Remarkable Fight for Freedom in Revolutionary America

‘Brooding Over Bloody Revenge is a brilliant tour-de-force. This powerful set of case studies create a prism for illuminating African American women’s intellectual arc, their lived experience as enslaved bodies, and their powerful response to slavery’s lash and legacy. Nikki Taylor’s voice offers remarkably fresh and convincing insights concerning violence, gender, and American slave culture.’ Catherine Clinton, author of Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom

This book is a powerful, gripping, and violent telling of enslaved women’s resistance. It is hard, but necessary scholarship. The past five years have led to an explosion of cutting-edge research that centers black women in nuanced ways. I count Nikki Taylor’s new book as part of this welcome wave.’ Kellie Carter Jackson, author of Force and Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence

‘Nikki Taylor’s framing of murderous actions as part of a larger practice of black feminist justice helps us understand these actions were not just about freedom and resistance. Taylor shows that enslaved women made many attempts to ameliorate their conditions, including coordinating with others, in search of justice.’ Kelly A. Ryan, author of Everyday Crimes: Social Violence and Civil Rights in Early America

‘… a cogent reconsideration of long-held assumptions about the gendered experience of American slavery.’ Publishers Weekly

‘A scorching, stunning look at private revolts against bondage.’ Washington Independent Review of Books

‘Spanning from the colonial period through to the early national and antebellum eras, Taylor’s extensively researched book not only powerfully depicts the trauma endured by enslaved women, it also details how federal and state governments and judicial systems propped up the institution of slavery and allowed or enacted its overwhelming violence.’ Beth Farrell, Library Journal

‘…an extraordinary, and necessarily gruesome, account of the ways in which enslaved women resisted the violence and oppression they encountered daily. By challenging existing narratives, Taylor sheds new light on the lengths some went to for safety, dignity, revenge and justice.’ Karla Strand, Ms. Magazine - Best Books of 2023

From the Publisher

10/23/2023

In her fourth book, Howard University professor of history Taylor (Driven Toward Madness) challenges the prevailing assumption that enslaved Black women resisted slavery solely through passive means. Although the women Taylor profiles typically first practiced nonviolent resistance, such as intentional work slowdowns, feigned illness or pregnancy, and arson, they finally resorted to violence to defend themselves against the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse they suffered at the hands of their enslavers. Because these seven women were criminally charged for their actions, details about their lives have been preserved, unlike the experiences of the majority of their enslaved peers. In particular, the women's confessions, which often appeared in newspapers, as well as trial records and proceedings from coroner's inquests, amplify their voices, ensuring their experiences, thoughts, and emotions can be heard today. VERDICT Spanning from the colonial period through to the early national and antebellum eras, Taylor's extensively researched book not only powerfully depicts the trauma endured by enslaved women, it also details how federal and state governments and judicial systems propped up the institution of slavery and allowed or enacted its overwhelming violence.—Beth Farrell

Library Journal