Daniel Cruson

The Slaves of Central Fairfield County: the Journey from Slave to Freeman in Nineteenth-century Connecticut Daniel Cruson

Much labor has been devoted to documenting the Northern response to the South's peculiar institution. While the details of anti-slavery activity are well known, the other side of history is neglected: the enslavement, mistreatment and subjugation of slaves who lived and toiled in Northern states. In this ground-breaking book on the slaves of Fairfield County, historian Dan Cruson aims to reveal the harsh reality of slavery in the North that existed alongside anti-slavery activity by presenting a comprehensive picture of rural slavery in 18th and early 19th century Connecticut. From the framework of everyday life including the slave-master relationship, housing and dress, to the role of slaves and free blacks in the Revolution that hastened the demise of slavery in Connecticut, Cruson s accessible and intriguing rendering of slave life in central Fairfield County will fascinate and inform readers. Utilizing local slave archaeology, Cruson presents exciting recent discoveries that shed light on African American spiritual practices. He goes on to tackle the complicated issue of the anti-slavery activity, discussing the problems with the abolition movement in Fairfield County in the 1830s and 1840s and questioning prevalent local folklore about the Underground Railroad. This meticulously researched book uses a database of over seventy slaves from Newtown, enhanced with information from the neighboring towns of Redding, Easton and Weston as well as anecdotal information from Trumbull and Monroe.