Republicanism, Gender and Slavery. The Transatlantic Journey of Sarah Livingston Jay and her Slave Abbe (1779-1783)

Abstract

In this text we will explore the complex relationship between republicanism and slavery from a gender studies perspective. For that purpose, we will study the journey to Europe of Abbe, a slave from New Jersey and her owner, the Republican Sarah Livingston Jay, who was married to John Jay. We will also examine the positions to which Atlantic Republicanism relegated those excluded social groups, i. e. free women and slaves. For the revolutionaries it appeared to be no contradiction between the Republican narrative and the inequality concerning European women and slaves. All debates dealing with slavery pointed out the lack of freedom, but never raise the question about the accepted condition of inequality in their own specific society.