Brooding over Bloody Revenge
Enslaved Women's Lethal Resistance

The powerful stories of enslaved women who waged lethal force as the ultimate form of resistance.

Nikki M. Taylor (Author)

9781009276856, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 9 January 2025

256 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.4 cm, 0.322 kg

'… an essential title for historians of Black women's violent resistance to slavery.' Oran Patrick Kennedy, Journal of Southern History

From the colonial through the antebellum era, enslaved women in the US used lethal force as the ultimate form of resistance. By amplifying their voices and experiences, Brooding over Bloody Revenge strongly challenges assumptions that enslaved women only participated in covert, non-violent forms of resistance, when in fact they consistently seized justice for themselves and organized toward revolt. Nikki M. Taylor expertly reveals how women killed for deeply personal instances of injustice committed by their owners. The stories presented, which span centuries and legal contexts, demonstrate that these acts of lethal force were carefully pre-meditated. Enslaved women planned how and when their enslavers would die, what weapons and accomplices were necessary, and how to evade capture in the aftermath. Original and compelling, Brooding Over Bloody Revenge presents a window into the lives and philosophies of enslaved women who had their own ideas about justice and how to achieve it.

Introduction
1. Phillis and Phoebe
2. Annis, Phillis, and Lucy
3. Cloe
4. Rose Butler
5. Jane Williams
6. Nelly, Betsy, and Ellen
7. Lucy
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Gender studies: women [JFSJ1], Slavery & abolition of slavery [HBTS], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], History of the Americas [HBJK]