Echoes of Rebellion: Cultural Reverberation of the 1790s St. Domingue Rebellion in the Delaware Valley

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "African American Voices In The Mid-Atlantic: Archaeology Of Elusive Freedom, Enslavement, And Rebellion" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The Delaware Valley’s free and enslaved Afro-Caribbean-born/relocated population is a frequently overlooked component of the micro-region’s cultural history. Caribbean-produced colonoware excavated at several sites in Wilmington and at the Garrison Energy site in Dover, Delaware, provide insight into Afro-Caribbean material culture and the varied uses and potential symbolism of Afro-Caribbean wares. The wares were brought to the Delaware Valley by white landowners and free and enslaved Black refugees fleeing St. Domingue after the 1790s rebellion upended French colonial control. Recovered in small amounts, the wares may be representative of possessions collected and carried by refugees in haste. They may have been used in their Delaware Valley setting to recreate Afro-Caribbean cuisines, like Pepper Pot. Acquired by others in the Black community, the visually distinctive wares may further have symbolized the power of Black rebellion against white fears of revolt and offered new hope for the Delaware Valley’s marginalized Black communities.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• African American Voices In The Mid-Atlantic: Archaeology Of Elusive Freedom, Enslavement, And Rebellion   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology