Slave stories : law, representation, and gender in the Danish West Indies / Gunvor Simonsen.

In the Danish West Indies, hundreds of enslaved men and women and a handful of Danish judges engaged in a broken, often distorted dialogue in court. Their dialogue was shaped by a shared concern with the ways slavery clashed with sexual norms and family life. Some enslaved men and women crafted respectable Christian self-portraits, which in time allowed victims of sexual abuse and rape to publicly narrate their experiences. Other slaves stressed African-Atlantic traditions when explaining their domestic conflicts. Yet these gripping stories did not influence the legal system. While the judges cunningly embraced slave testimony, they also reached guilty verdicts in most trials and punished with extreme brutality. Slaves spoke, but mostly to no avail.00In 'Slave Stories', Gunvor Simonsen reconstructs the narratives crafted by slaves and traces the distortions instituted by Danish West Indian legal practice. In doing so, she draws us closer to the men and women who lived in bondage in the Danish West Indies (present-day US Virgin Islands) in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Includes bibliographies and index.

Cover; Title page; Table of Contents; Colophon; List of Figures; Figure A: Danish Atlantic Legal Institutions in St. Croix and Copenhagen, 1755-1848; Figure B: Charges against Slaves in Christiansted Lower Court, 1756-1848; Figure C: Charges against Slaves in Christiansted Police Court, 1756-1841; Figure D: Slave Trials, Christiansted Police Court, 1756-1841, and Christiansted Lower Court, 6-1; Figure E: Verdicts in Slave Trials, Christiansted Lower Court, 1756-1848; Figure F: Punishments in Slave Trials, Christiansted Lower Court, 1756-1848

Figure G: Distribution of Gubernatorial ­Decisions in Slave Trials, Christiansted Lower Court, 1776-1823516List of Illustrations; Detail of the court book containing the testimony of the enslaved woman Sally, 1799.; The eastern Caribbean islands, including the Danish islands, c. 1777.; Detail of map of Christiansted and surrounding estates, by Peter Lotharius Oxholm, 1778.; Frederiksted town, watercolor by Frederik von Scholten, 1837.; Detail of the court book containing the testimony of the enslaved man George, 1804.

Dinner party at custom officer Claus Schonning's and wife, watercolor by H.G. Beenfeldt, 1796.View of the harbor area in Christiansted, St. Croix, watercolor by H.G. Beenfeldt, 1815.; Montpellier and Two Friends, watercolor by Frederik von Scholten, 1846.; Detail of Mary's Fancy with slaves working in the fields, St. Croix, oil painting by unknown artist, possibly Fritz Melbye, c. 1840.; View of Northside Quarter A, St. Croix, watercolor by unknown artist, possibly Frederik von Scholten, c. 1840.

Detail of Mary's Fancy with the slave village, St. Croix, oil painting by unknown artist, possibly Fritz Melbye, c. 1840.Prayer day at Friedensthal, 1768.; Obeah bottle, photography by Theodor C. von Zeilau, early twentieth century.; Ground plan of Fort Christiansværn, 1836.; Slave whip, undated.; Introduction; The Many Gendered World of Slaves and Judges; Representing Slave Voices; Sexual Violence and Legitimate Authority; African-Atlantic Domestic Troubles; Repressing Slave Stories: Guilt and Punishment; Epilogue; Words with Little Power; Manuscript Sources; Notes; Bibliography; Index

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