Enslavement to Enlistment: the US Military in 19th Century African American Migration and Resettlement

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Bridging Connections and Communities: 19th-Century Black Settlement in North America" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

As has been recently pointed out, the role of the military in African diaspora studies has been little considered, especially as a vector of migration and resettlement. The site of Fort Snelling in Minnesota offers numerous examples of how such migration was facilitated in the 19th century, from the involuntary transport of individuals enslaved by officers to voluntary transport of fugitives to the garrisoning of regiments of Black Regulars. In this paper, we introduce these shifting relations of African Americans with the military at Fort Snelling, and critically examine how each figured racial capitalism and settler colonialism, inseparable from relations with Indigenous nations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020   •
• Bridging Connections and Communities: 19th-Century Black Settlement in North America

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 352