Portrayals of Freedom in Early American Literature

Introduction:

William Earle's Obi; or, The History of Three-fingered Jack tells the story of Jack, a slave whose life's purpose is to avenge his father's death and abolish slavery. Through its epistolary structure, the author provides multiple perspectives surrounding Jack's actions and character. A novel which consistently defends Jack, critiques the governing oppressive institutions which seel his mortal fate, and rhetorically asks its audience to consider the exterior forces which propelled him to enact violent revenge seems unabashedly anti-slavery. The novel's concern with freedom is central to its anti-slavery position. The characters' conceptions of freedom shift as their geographical locations change, accompanied by new societal and political standards that often oppose these ideologies. However, these varying notions surrounding liberty within the text function outside the bounds of its covers. Srinivas Aravamudan, author of the introduction to the novel, states that  Obi: or, The Histroy of Three-fingered Jack is "a novel  based on a true histroical incident that was rendered to the public in a number of different versions" (Aravamudan 7). The book's literary success spawned various performances of the text, especially through pantomime, as well as other modes of written and oral dissemination. Thus, the sentiments of this novel become adapted and readapted as the story of Three-fingered Jack circulates the globe. As Jenna Gibbs states in her article, “Toussaint, Gabriel, and Three Finger’d Jack: ‘Courageous Chiefs’ and the ‘Sacred Standard of Liberty’ on the Atlantic Stage," the trans-national and trans-cultrual nature of this story affords scholars insight into the minds of the various audiences of the late 1700s/ early 1800s, and how their specific geo-political contexts inform their perceptions of such topics as liberty, slavery, and personhood. The purpsoe of this exhibit is to provide a geographic visulisation of this highly debated subject matter during a time period frought with revolution, rebellion, and bloodshed. Through the points plotted on this map, one can examine for themselves how a seemingly concrete and universal concept such as freedom dissolves into a political and philosophical discussion influenced by the governing bodies in a specific location. Perhaps you will leave this exhibit questioning how your own geographical, political, and societal locale shapes your perceptions of current controversial topics. 

Map Key:

This map is color-coded. Each color corresponds to a certain text that is used to examine different constructions of freedom as it pertains to slavery in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. 

Blue-- William Earle's Obi: Or, The History of Three-Fingered Jack. The points are numbered in order to indicate the chronology of Earle's work. 

Yellow-- Jenna Gibb's “Toussaint, Gabriel, and Three Finger’d Jack: ‘Courageous Chiefs’ and the ‘Sacred Standard of Liberty’ on the Atlantic Stage.” These points contina Gibbs' arguements towards the disperate interpretations of two performances of Obi in Londong (1800) and Philadelphia (1801). Other yellow points on the map are concerned with Gibbs's work and provides some historical and textual context for her piece. 

Green-- Kathleen Wilson's “The Performance of Freedom: Maroons and the Colonial Order in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica and the Atlantic Sound.” 

Red-- Frances Botkin's  "Ch.4 Being Jack Mansong: Ira Aldridge and Three-fingered Jack" from Thieving Three-Fingered Jack : Transatlantic Tales of a Jamaican Outlaw. 

Work Cited:

Aravamudan, Srinivas. "Introuction." Obi; or, The History of Three-fingered Jack, Broadview Editions, 2005, pp. 7-51.

Botkin, Frances R. "Ch.4 Being Jack Mansong: Ira Aldridge and Three-fingered Jack." Thieving Three-Fingered Jack : Transatlantic Tales of a Jamaican Outlaw, 1780-2015, Rutgers University Press, 2017, pp. 89-115. 

Earle, William. "Introduction." Obi; or, The History of Three-fingered Jack, Broadview Editions, ed. Srinivas Aravamudan, 2005, pp. 7-52.

Earle, William. Obi; Or, The History of Three-Fingered Jack. Broadview Editions, ed. Srinivas Aravamudan, 2005. 

Genovese, Eugene D.“Slave Revolts in Hemispheric Perspective.” From Rebellion to Revolution: Afro-American Slave Revolts in the Making of the Modern World, LSU Press, 1992, pp. 1-25.

Gibb, Jenna. “Toussaint, Gabriel, and Three Finger’d Jack: ‘Courageous Chiefs’ and the ‘Sacred Standard of Liberty’ on the Atlantic Stage.” Early American Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, vol. 13, no. 3, 2015, pp. 626-660.

Wilson, Kathleen. “The Performance of Freedom: Maroons and the Colonial Order in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica and the Atlantic Sound.” William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 66, no. 1, 2009, pp. 45-86.