4 Broken Shackles
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Eleanor Bird
Abstract
Chapter 4 discusses Broken Shackles, which blends the slave narrative and American colour genre, published by William Briggs, who was Canada’s first major book distributor. The narrative preserves the history of slavery in the United States and reproduces a narrative of Canadian antislavery after abolition. Comparing the 1889 edition to a 2001 reprint, which standardises Henson’s dialect speech and makes other editorial changes, the chapter shows that the modern reprint only remembers one side of the Canadian attitude to self-liberated and free Black people who arrived from the US its antislavery stance – but not its simultaneously racist handling of the experiences of enslaved people.
Abstract
Chapter 4 discusses Broken Shackles, which blends the slave narrative and American colour genre, published by William Briggs, who was Canada’s first major book distributor. The narrative preserves the history of slavery in the United States and reproduces a narrative of Canadian antislavery after abolition. Comparing the 1889 edition to a 2001 reprint, which standardises Henson’s dialect speech and makes other editorial changes, the chapter shows that the modern reprint only remembers one side of the Canadian attitude to self-liberated and free Black people who arrived from the US its antislavery stance – but not its simultaneously racist handling of the experiences of enslaved people.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Figures vi
- Acknowledgements viii
- Introduction 1
- 1 The representation of slavery in Quebec’s newspapers, 1789–93 25
- 2 Canada in the antebellum slave narrative, 1849–57 59
- 3 Thomas Jones in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick 93
- 4 Broken Shackles 129
- Conclusion 160
- Bibliography 165
- Index 183
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Figures vi
- Acknowledgements viii
- Introduction 1
- 1 The representation of slavery in Quebec’s newspapers, 1789–93 25
- 2 Canada in the antebellum slave narrative, 1849–57 59
- 3 Thomas Jones in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick 93
- 4 Broken Shackles 129
- Conclusion 160
- Bibliography 165
- Index 183
