Atlantic Creoles in the age of revolutions /

Landers (Vanderbilt Univ.) examines Creole political culture from the 17th through the 19th century in the Atlantic world, including the low country of South Carolina, Florida, Cuba, and Haiti. The author makes an important contribution to historiography, claiming that slaves and free blacks in the Atlantic World, far from eagerly supporting every imperial European revolution, opted for a more pragmatic approach. Rather than being passive, Creoles took advantage of imperial political conflicts, events, and ideologies to advance their personal and political interests, which included local and regional power politics in the Atlantic world, often involving numerous players. In Spanish- and English-held colonies, slaves and free blacks often supported monarchal rule in the hope that it would help their aspirations of freedom or a better life. Landers argues that initially, free blacks and some slaves (mostly in Spanish-held colonies) benefitted from legal, corporate, military, and religious traditions that allowed for more economic, political, and social autonomy. Those who chose not to implicate themselves in revolutionary conflict instead moved to various Maroon settlements and other "ephemeral" states. By the 19th century, however, ever-expanding plantation production blunted hope for free blacks and slaves alike in the Atlantic World, including the Spanish colony of Cuba. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above C. L. Stacey Louisiana State University at Alexandria