This call for papers is to find interested parties to form a panel that would explore the ways in which slavery shapes emancipation for the 2013 Southern History Conference. Ideally, the panel would be comprised of slavery scholars from a broad range of Southern regions, in order to fully reflect the incredible breadth of experiences, perceptions and understandings of the impact of slavery on emancipation. The panel would unpack how the structure of slavery imposed limitations on Reconstruction and how those restrictions then molded the contours of freedom in the South. My paper would focus on the nature of slavery in Northern Louisiana, a place in which the rough-hewn tenor of the landscape was coupled with commercialized drive towards rapid economic advancement. I would investigate how the material, ideological and cultural structures in this region shaped the options and prospects of freedom.

If interested, please respond by August 15, 2012.