Spaces of Enslavement: A History of Slavery and Resistance in Dutch New York (Cornell University Press, 2021) by Dr. Andrea Mosterman explores the history of slavery and resistance in Dutch New York.
Through examination of homes, Dutch Reformed churches, and public spaces, the book shows how Dutch American enslavers increasingly used their dominance over these spaces to control the people they enslaved. It also explores how enslaved people resisted such control by escaping or modifying these spaces and expanding their mobility and activities within them. Close analysis of these spaces demonstrates that slavery in New York was not somehow more benign than slavery in the plantation South.
Andrea Mosterman is associate professor in Atlantic History and Joseph Tregle Professor in Early American History at the University of New Orleans. She researches slavery and the slave trade in the Dutch Atlantic world. Her book Spaces of Enslavement: A History of Slavery and Resistance in Dutch New York has won the 2020 Hendricks Award for best book-length manuscript relating to New Netherland and the Dutch colonial experience.
Mosterman will give three talks on Spaces of Enslavement:
DutchCultureUSA will host a talk on Tuesday, May 17th, at 6 pm, at St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery in the Parish Hall, New York City. This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required, and can be completed online.
The Hudson Area Library History Room, in collaboration with the Jacob Leisler Institute for the Study of Early New York History, will host a talk on Friday, May 20th, from 6 to 7:30 pm. This in-person event will take place in the community room of the library. A Q & A will follow book discussion and reading by the author and there will be copies available for purchase and signing. The Hudson Area Library is located at 51 North Fifth Street in Hudson.
The Columbia County Historical Society (CCHS) will host a talk on Saturday, May 21st at 4:30 pm. This talk will be held via Zoom, tickets are $10 for CCHS members, $15 for non-members. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.
Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.
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