Slavery and Freedom in the Rural North: African Americans in Monmouth County, New Jersey, 1665-1865: African Americans in Monmouth County, New Jersey, 1665-1865

by Graham Russell Gao Hodges

While the transition urban African Americans made from slavery to freedom in the North has been the subject of much scholarship, the experiences of their rural counterparts has remained largely hidden. Focusing on the development of a single African American community in eastern New Jersey, Professor Hodges examines the experience of slavery and freedom in the rural North. This unique social history addresses many long held assumptions about the experience of slavery and emancipation outside the plantation South. Hodges weaves an intricate pattern of life and death, work and worship, from the earliest settlement to the end of the Civil War.

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 1997

About the author

Graham Russell Gao Hodges is the George Dorland Langdon Jr. Professor of History and Africana & Latin American Studies at Colgate University.

Reviews

[Catherine Symchych · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book kept circling around to the ways the various churches and religions dealt with slaves in New Jersey. It didn’t feel particularly well-written even without that. I read it because my ancestors came from that area. Now to go back through and cross reference my many bookmarks with my genealogy charts.

[Vivian · Rating 5 out of 5]

still reading it on occasion. Being from New Jersey in Monmouth County, it was for me to read. It is interesting. Got to get family interested in history. Always.