RESOURCE LIST
While I could find not studies or book length documentation of human breeding of enslaved women within the plantation society of 19th Century Puerto Rico, I did find certain references that seem peculiar considering what we know of the use of enslaved laborers of the time. More about that below.
Therefore, I researched the practice of the breeding of enslaved women in the Americas as a whole. While I recognize regional differences, I also noted the many similarities in relation to the treatment of enslaved men, women and children throughout the hemisphere. There is also ample evidence that owners from different parts of the Americas were in communication with each other and, often, shared solutions for common problems or situations.
The following is a list of books that deal with the condition of the enslaved, especially the women, under the rule of plantation owners throughout the area. They are meant to present the reader, educator or researcher with an overall picture of the social life and living conditions of enslaved persons of the enslaved at that time.
~ Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa
A WOMAN OF ENDURANCE
(Click on titles to order books)
ENGLISH LANGUAGE MATERIALS
Berry, Daina Ramey. The Price for their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, from Womb to Grave,
in the Building of a Nation. Beacon Press, 2017.
Cubano Iguina, Astrid. Rituals of Violence in Nineteenth-Century Puerto Rico: Individual Conflict, Gender and the Law. University Press of Florida, 2006.
Donoghue, Eddie. Black Women, White Men: The Sexual Exploitation of Female Slaves in the Danish West Indies. Author House, 2006.
Gaspar, David. More Than Chattel: Black Women and Slavery in the Americas. Indiana University Press, 1996.
Klein, Herbert S. and Ben Vinson III. African Slavery in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 2007.
Scarano, Francisco A. Sugar and Slavery in Puerto Rico. The plantation Economy of Ponce, 1800-1850. The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, 1984.
Shepherd, Verene, et al. eds. Endangering History: Caribbean Women in Historical Perspective. St. Martins, 1995.
Findlay, Eileen J. Suarez. Imposing Decency: The Politics of sexuality and Race in Puerto Rico, 1870-1920. Duke University Press, 1999.
Sublette, Ned and Constance. The American Slave Coast: A History of the Salve-Breeding Industry. Lawrence Hill Books, 2016.
SPANISH LANGUAGE MATERIALS
Scarano Francisco A. Haciendas y Barracones: Azucar y Esclavitud en Ponce, Puerto Rico. 1800-1850. Ediciones Huracán, 1992. (Original English-language citation, above.)
DAUGHTERS OF THE STONE
(Click on titles to order books)
Since the March 2019 release of the paperback edition, Daughters of the Stone has become required reading in 26 colleges across the United States by professors of Hispanic Literature, Latina/o Studies, Literary Fiction, Latin American Studies, Caribbean Literature, Contemporary Fiction, Puerto Rican Literature, Women's Fiction, African American and Afro-Puerto Rican Literature. The novel was also used as part of the curriculum for a 2019 national summer program that focused on African American Literacy at Oakland Freedom Schools.
-
Download the Readers Guide to include Daughters of the Stone in your curriculum.
-
College bookstores can purchase the paperback edition from IngramSpark.
-
Click here for interviews and readings by Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa.