Consuming slaves: commodification and non-labor roles of enslaved Africans in the American South, 1800-1860

    Thursday, April 5, 2018 - 18:00 to 19:00
    An Foras Feasa Seminar Room, First Floor, Iontas, North Campus, MU

    Lecture to History Research Seminar by Dr John Patrick Daly (State University of New York, Brockport College)

    Synopsis:
    This paper examines an aspect of the repression of enslaved Africans and presents a new description of the Antebellum South’s economy.  Enslaved Africans were commodified for their labor and cash value but they were also treated as consumer products themselves.  The Master class used them for the gratification of consumer desires, especially to bolster Masters’ self-images and egos.