Disciplines
African American Studies | Africana Studies | Cultural History | United States History
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Since its beginning, enslavement of African peoples in the New World has been a topic of great interest. There are many different routes to go, in terms of researching that era and what went along with it. However, because of its extent and variation in different places, there is a great amount of information and stories that have gone untold. This research will help to unpack some of those stories, particularly as it relates to the slaves of the Conner-Field house in Cartersville, Georgia, whose possessions were not typical “slave possessions”. Their possessions help to shed a light on their material wealth. Through exploring their material wealth, the dichotomy of the slaves will also be analyzed, in order to determine whether or not out-house slaves, for example, had the same access to acquiring such items as in-house slaves. This research will also explain the different reasons why the slaves living here might have had access to such items. The reasons could range from the slaves having a special/personal relationship with their owners, to the owners being more economically affluent compared to other slave-owning families. This gives insight as to how the slave-owning families’ personal lives impacted their slaves’ lives, making it important to also compare slave owners across different mediums (time, location, space, number of slaves) to ultimately determine the life of a slave in a given area. The commonality, or lack thereof, between different slave groups will further help to illustrate why they had or did not have certain privileges and/or benefits.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
RCHSS - Geography & Anthropology
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Terry Powis
Additional Faculty
No additional faculty
Included in
African American Studies Commons, Africana Studies Commons, Cultural History Commons, United States History Commons
The Material Wealth of Slaves in the South
Since its beginning, enslavement of African peoples in the New World has been a topic of great interest. There are many different routes to go, in terms of researching that era and what went along with it. However, because of its extent and variation in different places, there is a great amount of information and stories that have gone untold. This research will help to unpack some of those stories, particularly as it relates to the slaves of the Conner-Field house in Cartersville, Georgia, whose possessions were not typical “slave possessions”. Their possessions help to shed a light on their material wealth. Through exploring their material wealth, the dichotomy of the slaves will also be analyzed, in order to determine whether or not out-house slaves, for example, had the same access to acquiring such items as in-house slaves. This research will also explain the different reasons why the slaves living here might have had access to such items. The reasons could range from the slaves having a special/personal relationship with their owners, to the owners being more economically affluent compared to other slave-owning families. This gives insight as to how the slave-owning families’ personal lives impacted their slaves’ lives, making it important to also compare slave owners across different mediums (time, location, space, number of slaves) to ultimately determine the life of a slave in a given area. The commonality, or lack thereof, between different slave groups will further help to illustrate why they had or did not have certain privileges and/or benefits.