19
Whilst archaeology is extremely useful when showing layouts, maps and boundaries, formerly enslaved narratives such as Ank Bishop’ s demonstrate that boundaries and perimeters were set that the enslaved women were expected to abide by, yet they were not actually written down formally on maps. Further, enslaved narratives uncover how spatial restrictions were different for enslaved men and women. 38
Moreover, enslaved people who were hired in the slave market were less well known than the enslaved who resided on the plantation with an enslaver, Inge Dornan has demonstrated that some white women who were slaveholders had power over their enslaved because of the close contact they had with them. 39 Dornan uses runaway slave advertisements to suggest how some slaveholders were very familiar with the enslaved persons names and characteristics. 40 Slaveholders had the ability to establish a plantation where they profited from enslaved women because of their familiarity with them. Slaveholder Dr Norcom knew Harriet Jacobs so well that when she ran away, he described her as“ dark eyes, and black hair inclined to curl” and“ a decayed spot on the front tooth”. 41 This knowledge and intimacy made it harder for fugitive enslaved women to avoid capture from the plantation. Similarly, in 1840 in the Richmond County, a one-hundred-dollar reward for a“ runaway slave” named“ Milly […] with quite a bushy head of hair, and a flat nose, quite a small appearance about the breast, speaks mild when spoken to, and a quick step” was wanted by a slaveholder named E. Love. 42 The slaveholder knew the physical appearance of Milly and her behaviour; something that would only be known for certain through close living and observation. The plantation enabled the slaveholder to have close contact and power over enslaved women’ s bodies and their mobility which served advantageous for their profits. Through a spatial history, there can be an examination of spatial
38
Emily West, " The debate on the strength of slave families: South Carolina and the importance of cross-plantation Marriages," Journal of American Studies 33, no. 2( 1999): 221-241. https:// doi. org / 10.1017 / S0021875898005970
39
Inge Dornan, " Masterful Women: Colonial Women Slaveholders in the Urban Low Country," Journal of American Studies 39, no. 3( 2005): 396. https:// www. jstor. org / stable / 27557690
40
Inge Dornan, " Masterful Women: Colonial Women Slaveholders in the Urban Low Country," Journal of American Studies 39, no. 3( 2005): 396. https:// www. jstor. org / stable / 27557690.
41
Harriet A. Jacobs,“ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself 1813-1897,” Documenting the American South, 149.
42
Ex-slave Milly,‘ 100 Dollars Reward’ 1840, Digital Library on American Slavery, North Carolina Runaway Slave Notices, 1750-1865.