A breathtakingly original work of history that uncovers a massive enslaved persons’ revolt that almost changed the face of the Americas.
Historian Marjoeline Kars will be in conversation with author Claudio Saunt on her new book, Blood in the River: A Chronicle of Mutiny and Freedom on the Wild Coast.
On Sunday, February 27, 1763, thousands of slaves in the Dutch colony of Berbice—in present-day Guyana—launched a massive rebellion which came amazingly close to succeeding. Surrounded by jungle and savannah, the revolutionaries (many of them African-born) and Europeans struck and parried for an entire year. In the end, the Dutch prevailed because of one unique advantage—their ability to get soldiers and supplies from neighboring colonies and from Europe.
Blood on the River is the explosive story of this little-known revolution, one that almost changed the face of the Americas.Drawing on nine hundred interrogation transcripts collected by the Dutch when the Berbice rebellion finally collapsed, and which were subsequently buried in Dutch archives, historian Marjoleine Kars reconstructs an extraordinarily rich day-by-day account of this pivotal event.
Blood on the River provides a rare in-depth look at the political vision of enslaved people at the dawn of the Age of Revolution and introduces us to a set of real characters, vividly drawn against the exotic tableau of a riverine world of plantations, rainforest, and Carib allies who controlled a vast South American hinterland.An astonishing original work of history, Blood on the River will change our understanding of revolutions, slavery, and of the story of freedom in the New World.
About the Authors:
Marjoleine Kars is an associate professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. A noted historian of slavery, she is the author of Blood on the River: A Chronicle of Mutiny and Freedom on the Wild Coast (The New Press) and Breaking Loose Together. She lives in Washington, DC.
Claudio Saunt is Richard B. Russell Professor in American History, Co-Director of the Center for Virtual History, and Associate Director of the Institute of Native American Studies, all at the University of Georgia. He is the author of four books, including Unworthy Republic (2020), West of the Revolution (2014), Black, White, and Indian (2005), and A New Order of Things (1999). He has developed several online projects, including the Invasion of America and Pox Americana. In 2018, he received an NEH Humanities Collections and Reference Resources grant to produce an online, interactive time-lapse map of the African, Native, and European populations in North America between 1500 and 1800.http://claudiosaunt.com/
