In, 'the Internal Enemy, Slavery and War in Virginia 1772-1832' Alan Taylor discusses slaves fleeing to, aiding and fighting for the British in the War of 1812. This is a book that is full of incredible insights into slavery, politics and war in the early 19th century. It discusses the way that both sides of the war sought to legitimize themselves as fighting for 'liberty' (the British against Napoleanic tyranny and against worldwide slavery, the Americans against monarchy and aristocracy) and the hypocrisies involved on both sides - an the ways that enslaved people worked the situation to their advantage, as much as they were able. It also includes some incredible anecdotes and great storytelling.

At least one same-sex couple ran away to reunite. In Calvert County [in southern MD] a [white] witness recalled that a slave woman named Unity had been married to Joe Gurny, but 'a short time after their marriage they fell out and parted. She then formed an intemiacy with a negro woman the property of David Avis by the name of Philis Caden. They both joined the Methodist Church, claimed a Sisterhood,' and Unity changed her name to Minty Caden*. Until they ran away together to the British, each had belonged to a different owner.

So yeah. Same-sex couple escapes from slavery by going over to a Royal Navy Warship.

*Taylor elsewhere discusses self-applied (and often unacknowledged by white people) surnames as way that enslaved people claimed kinship ties that slavery denied them - to family on another plantation, or to a white ancestor that refused to acknowledge his descendants.

u/sowser

I have long been in love with Steve Coll's Ghost Wars as a history of US involvement in Afghanistan and kind of assumed that Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower, despite being highly regarded (i.e. Also winning a Pulitzer.) would be sort of redundant. I've been very surprised. The two complement each other extremely well and The Looming Tower in particular does a much better job of describing the 20th century evolution of Islamism as well as apparently giving much more attention to the inner workings of Al Qaeda, as opposed to Coll's book that focuses on US and other intelligence agencies' contemporary appraisals.

Late medieval friar Johannes Nider has some surprising words on self-appreciation and esteem:

There are three people whom you should love and not anger: The first person is God, the second is yourself. You must love yourself, but through God. The third is your neighbor. But you must love yourself more than your neighbor.

He has some nice things to say about the importance of friendship:

When you sin against someone who is your born friend, or who has done right by you, that is worse than when you sin against a stranger.

How cheerful and unexpectedly nice--

God also has friends.

Uh oh.

The Holy Spirit lives in them. Therefore, those who anger them sin severely. They sin severely when they act against the Holy Spirit, against all holy prelates, priests, and confessors, those who are of God's state. Who sins against them, sins worst.

I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE.

This week I'm reading Calloway's The Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of North America. I very much enjoy his writing, from larger volumes like One Vast Winter Count: The Native American West Before Lewis and Clark to smaller volumes that dive into very specific topics like one battle in 1791 with The Victory with No Name: The Native American Defeat of the First American Army. Scratch of a Pen is more like the later, a crash course into the state of eastern North America after the French and Indian/Seven Years War. I love Calloway's determination to place the narrative firmly in the Americas, examining the social and demographic context for those looking west to expand, as well as those looking east as their lands were invaded. This is a small volume, and a great introduction to the period if you are interested in eastern North America in the years leading up to the U.S. Revolution.

I also just started Malone's The Skulking Way of War: Technology and Tactics Among the New England Indians. I haven't dived in too deep yet, but it looks to be a good quick read about warfare in New England in the 1600s, encapsulating both the Pequot War and King Phillip's War.

Does anyone have a good recommendation for seventeenth century English social history? Based on my last few questions I realize I should probably read a book.

I've been reading some articles on borderlands history, specifically cultural interactions and perspectives of space, gender, race, etc. on the borderlands. Some really interesting stuff, considering how different borderlands and frontiers could be.

Anyone have any recommended books?