Monday, January 11, 2021

Escaping Slavery

'Marronage' is a noun which describes the process of escaping slavery. The word derives from the 'Maroons', the name given to escaped slaves and the descendants of Africans in the Americas who created settlements away from slavery.

The Mapping Marronage website is creating interactive visualizations exploring the networks by which enslaved people in the 18th and 19th century attempted to move "beyond the reach of slavery’s oppression and dehumanization." Currently Mapping Marronage consists of two main interactive maps:

The Flights visualization maps out the travels of 11 individuals who managed to escape from slavery. If you select one of the 11 individuals you can view their 'trajectories' on the interactive map. Clicking on any of these trajectory dots on the map and you can view a tool-tip which provides more information about the individual's journey.Clicking on an individual's name in the map sidebar allows you to access a brief biography and links to original sources from the individual's life and history.

The Networks visualization maps out the networks created by five individuals (one of whom is Frederick Douglas). These networks are established from records of their correspondences to other individuals, newspapers or institutions. As with the Flights map you can click on the trajectory dots on the map to view tool-tips with explanatory information. You can also view a biography of one of the mapped individuals and original sources relating to their life by clicking on their name in the map sidebar.

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