University of Maryland professor Christopher Bonner taught a class about the concept of “power” in antebellum slave societies. He explored the different ways owners and enslaved people exerted or expressed their will and looks at how these dynamics played out in the context of individual plantations. He also discussed how the invention of the cotton gin and resulting expansion of both slavery and the cotton industry impacted the relationship between owners and the enslaved.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
