Spaces of Enslavement: A History of Slavery and Resistance in Dutch New York by Andrea C. Mosterman

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Reviewed by: Spaces of Enslavement: A History of Slavery and Resistance in Dutch New York by Andrea C. Mosterman Christy Clark-Pujara Spaces of Enslavement: A History of Slavery and Resistance in Dutch New York. By Andrea C. Mosterman. New Netherland Institute. 246 pages. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2021. Cloth, ebook. Andrea C. Mosterman's Spaces of Enslavement examines the experiences of enslaved people in Dutch New York using historical spatial analysis, offering an in-depth study of the often-overlooked spaces where enslaved people lived and labored. Her thorough examinations of the physical places occupied by bound people demonstrate the necessity of seriously considering space and the built environment in slavery studies. As she effectively shows, the use of private and public space was contested through the institution of slavery. She pays particular attention to how the relationships between enslavers and the enslaved were articulated and mitigated through the occupation of and movement in and out of space, especially family homes, churches, and public areas. Mosterman thus demonstrates how Dutch American enslavers attempted to use the built environment to control and surveil enslaved people and how enslaved people resisted the restrictions and limits placed on their movements and occupation of various spaces. Spaces of Enslavement is a hyper-local study that begins with the Dutch invasion and occupation of Manhattan in the 1620s and concludes during the early American republic. The enslavers she studies were those Dutch colonists and later Dutch Americans who, even after the sale of New Netherland to the British, spoke Dutch and were members of the Dutch Reformed Church. The first generations of enslaved people were African-descended Atlantic Creoles—bound peoples primarily transported by privateers from the West Indies. Many of them were familiar with the commercial world of the Atlantic, semifluent in multiple languages, and intimately knowledgeable about multiple cultures. By contrast, in the eighteenth century, the enslaved were predominantly captives from Madagascar, the Gold Coast, and Senegambia who entered the region directly and whose experience of enslavement was marked by extreme disorientation. Through meticulous interrogation of archival materials—including account books, newspapers, and court and church records from the United States and the Netherlands—Mosterman paints an intimate picture of the lived experience of enslaved people in Dutch New Amsterdam and early Dutch America more broadly. She also employs the methods and theories of social scientists—particularly archaeologists—to describe the spaces where enslaved people lived, worked, socialized, and prayed. Her research included taking measurements to determine if they could stand upright in the spaces where they slept, deducing the intensity of heat in the summer and cold in [End Page 477] the winter, and assessing how much privacy they had to make love, change their clothes, and sleep. Similarly, when examining their religious lives, she focuses on questions such as whether they could see and hear the minister from their segregated seats in church. Mosterman's attention to detail is a concrete reminder of how much impact the built environment had on the day-to-day lived experience of enslaved people. Spaces of Enslavement is organized both chronologically and thematically. The first two chapters focus on the Dutch period, highlighting the importance of slave labor and how those held in bondage by the Dutch West India Company took advantage of the lack of spatial control to negotiate greater freedoms both formal and informal. Chapter 1 opens with the botched hanging of an enslaved man who was to be executed for the murder of another enslaved man; his life was spared when colonists pleaded with officials to reconsider executing him after the initial attempt failed. Mosterman uses this sensational event to highlight how instrumental the labors of enslaved people were to the maintenance of the colony, as enslaved people helped to build the colonial infrastructure and were armed during conflicts with Indigenous peoples. Chapter 2 begins with freedom petitions from three enslaved women. They asked the New Netherland council both to manumit them after decades of "loyal" (31) labor and to allow them to live together among other freed Black people north of New Amsterdam. The council agreed but required the women to return weekly for domestic work...