While the transition urban African Americans made from slavery to freedom in the North has been the subject of much scholarship, the experiences of their rural counterparts has remained largely hidden. Focusing on the development of a single African American community in eastern New Jersey, Professor Hodges examines the experience of slavery and freedom in the rural North. This unique social history addresses many long held assumptions about the experience of slavery and emancipation outside the plantation South. Hodges weaves an intricate pattern of life and death, work and worship, from the earliest settlement to the end of the Civil War.

"A brilliant exploration of slavery in a local setting." - CHOICE

"Hodges' meticulously documented and beautifully written social history offers valuable insight into the harsh conditions of African-American life and race relations in the rural antebellum North. Highly recommended." - Library Journal