New Books Network Miranda Spieler, "Slaves in Paris: Hidden Lives and Fugitive Histories" (Harvard UP, 2025)
Oct 8, 2025
Miranda Spieler, a history and politics professor at the American University of Paris, dives into the hidden lives of enslaved people in pre-Revolutionary Paris. She explores the harsh realities they faced, including manhunts and the legal labyrinth that sought to prevent their freedom. Spieler shares fascinating archival discoveries revealing the complex dynamics of slavery in an era celebrated for its Enlightenment ideals. Highlighting individual stories, she emphasizes the racialization of rights and the profound impact of legal systems on those seeking liberation.
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Unexpected Slave Files In Paris Archives
- Miranda Spieler discovered police files in the Archives of the Bastille revealing slave hunts in 18th-century Paris.
- She found about 125 cases and set out to explain how Paris became a site of slave hunting before the Revolution.
Domestic Slaves In Elite Paris Households
- Most enslaved people in Paris were domestic workers tied to elite households and often adolescents.
- Spieler framed questions about slave roundups, why the crown supported them, and neighbors' roles in aiding or betraying fugitives.
Paris's Institutional Density Aids Reconstruction
- Paris's dense legal institutions and effective police created extensive archival traces of fugitives' movements.
- Spieler used spatial and mobility analysis to reconstruct fugitives' lives across overlapping legal zones.
