"No Band of Brothers Could Be More Loving": Enslaved Male Homosociality, Friendship, and Resistance in the Antebellum American South.

HOMOSOCIAL groups; ENSLAVED African Americans; AFRICAN Americans; SLAVERY in the United States; FRIENDSHIP; SOCIOLOGY of friendship; SOCIAL conditions of African American men; HISTORY; NINETEENTH century; SLAVERY -- Social aspects

This article examines the homosocial world of enslaved men in the antebellum American South. It underscores that the lives of enslaved men were intertwined with one another, and that male interdependence was a fact of enslaved life. It examines how pursuits such as drinking, gambling, and wrestling brought enslaved men together in an all-male subculture through which they constructed their own independent notions of masculinity, friendship, solidarity, and resistance. The article claims that homosocial company was integral to the gendered identity and self-esteem of enslaved men. Through their homasocial relationships men forged strong ties of friendship. These relationships offered enslaved men a significant emotional landscape through which to resist the dehumanizing features of enslaved life. Furthermore, the article reveals how some friendships nurtured a culture of resistance among enslaved men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]