Slavery before Race: Europeans, Africans, and Indians at Long Island’s Sylvester Manor Plantation, 1651-1884

241 Pages·2013·3.08 MB·English

by  Katherine Howlett Hayes

Slavery before Race
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Early American Places is a collaborative project of the
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Advisory Board
Vincent Brown, Duke University
Stephanie M. H. Camp, University of Washington
Andrew Cayton, Miami University
Cornelia Hughes Dayton, University of Connecticut
Nicole Eustace, New York University
Amy S. Greenberg, Pennsylvania State University
Ramón A. Gutiérrez, University of Chicago
Peter Charles Hoffer, University of Georgia
Karen Ordahl Kupperman, New York University
Joshua Piker, University of Oklahoma
Mark M. Smith, University of South Carolina
Rosemarie Zagarri, George Mason University
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Slavery before Race
Europeans, Africans, and Indians at
Long Island’s Sylvester Manor Plantation,
1651–1884
katherine howlett hayes
a
New York University Press
new york and london
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
www.nyupress.org
©2013 by New York University
All rights reserved
library of congress cataloging-in-publication data
Hayes, Katherine Howlett.
Slavery before race : Europeans, Africans, and Indians at Long Island’s
Sylvester Manor Plantation, 1651–1821 / Katherine Howlett Hayes.
p. cm. — (Early American places)
Revised version of the author’s thesis (doctoral)—University of California,
Berkeley, 2008.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8147-8577-5 (cl : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8147-2469-9 (e)
ISBN 978-0-8147-7090-0 (e)
1. Slavery—New York (State)—Shelter Island. 2. African Americans—New
York (State)—Shelter Island—History—To 1863. 3. Indians of North America—
New York (State)—History. 4. Shelter Island (N.Y.)—Race relations—History.
5. Plantation life—New York (State)—Shelter Island—History. 6. Sylvester
Manor Plantation Site (Shelter Island, N.Y.) 7. Shelter Island (N.Y.)—
Antiquities. 8. Excavations (Archaeology)—New York (State)—Shelter Island.
I. Title. II. Series: Early American places.
E445.N56H39 2013
306.3’6209747—dc23
2012035346
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author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or
changed since the manuscript was prepared.
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding
materials are chosen for strength and durability. We strive to use environmentally
responsible suppliers and materials to the greatest extent possible in publishing our
books.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Mom and Dad
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Contents
List of Figures and Table xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Prologue xvii
1 Tracing a Racialized History 1
2 Convergence 17
3 Building and Destroying 57
4 Objects of Interaction 86
5 Forgetting to Remember, Remembering to Forget 121
6 Unimagining Communities 163
Epilogue 181
Notes 183
Bibliography 187
Index 215
About the Author 221