'I Felt All This'

Beth R. Wilson

ISBN 10: 1009709453 / ISBN 13: 9781009709453

Published by Cambridge University Press, GB, 2026

About this Item

Drawing on methods from the history of emotions to study enslaved people's lives, Beth R. Wilson exposes the social, cultural and political role that emotion played in the US South. Exploring both individual and collective emotions, Wilson shows how enslaved people resisted white people's attempts to restrict their feelings and expressions by developing their own emotional ideals and expectations. Moving through case studies that examine a range of underexplored forms of testimony, the book introduces readers to slave narratives, letters, written interviews and recorded testimony to show that emotion was central to how enslaved people resisted, survived and remembered the system of slavery. Enslaved people's descriptions of their individual experiences of love, pain, grief and joy are woven throughout this study, which provides a framework that historians can use to paint a nuanced, detailed and empathetic picture of the complex emotional impact of slavery.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781009709453

Bibliographic Details

• Title: 'I Felt All This'
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, GB
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1009709453
• ISBN 13: 9781009709453
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 250 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Drawing on methods from the history of emotions to study enslaved people's lives, Beth R. Wilson exposes the social, cultural and political role that emotion played in the US South. Exploring both individual and collective emotions, Wilson shows how enslaved people resisted white people's attempts to restrict their feelings and expressions by developing their own emotional ideals and expectations. Moving through case studies that examine a range of underexplored forms of testimony, the book introduces readers to slave narratives, letters, written interviews and recorded testimony to show that emotion was central to how enslaved people resisted, survived and remembered the system of slavery. Enslaved people's descriptions of their individual experiences of love, pain, grief and joy are woven throughout this study, which provides a framework that historians can use to paint a nuanced, detailed and empathetic picture of the complex emotional impact of slavery.

About the Author

Beth R. Wilson is a Lecturer in American History at Cardiff University. She is co-editor (with Emily West) of Slavery and Emotions in the Atlantic World (2024).