West examines the experiences of enslaved African American women from the 16th-century African slave trade to the 19th-century Reconstruction era. Part of the publisher's African American History Series, this text synthesizes numerous valuable details about slave women’s experiences while still being concise enough not to overwhelm nonexperts. Significant to the book is the explication of women’s social and cultural experiences, including their familial and labor expectations. West also carefully weaves in elements of the political and economic climate in order to illustrate how local as well as national forces played a role in the average bondwoman’s life. In addition to the detailed narrative, also significant is the inclusion of select primary sources that demonstrate the true experiences of enslaved women by those who underwent and witnessed them. Ideal for collections in US history, women’s history, and the history of American slavery, or for average readers who want to truly understand the experiences of enslaved American women of the past. Summing Up: Recommended. General collections through graduate libraries.

Choice Reviews

This volume would be a suitable introduction to slavery for first- or second-year undergraduates. And not to be overlooked, the primary documents section includes a number of well-chosen WPA interviews: they are vivid material for lively class discussions.

Journal of Southern History

Emily West’s comprehensive analysis of the lives of enslaved women in North America from the colonial period through Emancipation and the Reconstruction Amendments skilfully links these women’s experiences over time through their shared experience of suffering, exploitation, and strategies of survival. Weaving a wealth of primary sources into a thoughtful and sensitive analysis, this book is a must read for students of American slavery.

Rebecca Fraser, University of East Anglia

This important and highly-readable synthesis traces the lives of African women from the point of enslavement through emancipation in the nineteenth century. With examples of primary sources and an informative bibliographic essay this book will be the starting point for all those interested in the female slave experience in North America.

Timothy Lockley, University of Warwick

This boldly-conceived and ambitious work demonstrates the crucial significance of gendered relationships as a central dynamic in the slave experience. Unmatched in its chronological breadth and insightful in its analysis, this compelling narrative will captivate students, academics, and all those who seek to understand American slavery and the lives of those whose labour was of seminal importance in the creation of America.

Laura Sandy, Keele University

West's engaging introduction to women's experience of slavery in the U.S. tells us why gender matters to the study of slavery's history, how women's experiences changed over time, and how enslaved women hastened the end of slavery during the Civil War. Enslaved Women in America offers an excellent guide to this complex and rich history, and includes a welcome selection of interviews and memoirs that allow us to see the past from the perspective of those who lived through it. I highly recommend this book.

Leslie Schwalm, University of Iowa