Tra schiavitù e cittadinanza: i liberi di colore nel mondo atlantico

Through the analysis of the recent historiography on free people of color, this essay underlines the importance of this category to studying the relationship between slavery and citizenship in the Atlantic world. Because of their origin, people of African descent were considered not only inferiors but also foreigners, and thus excluded from citizenship. Yet, their status could be ambiguous, so that in some cases they could obtain the same rights of citizens. While during the 18th and 19th century the idea of race became crucial in defining social inclusion or exclusion, its vagueness gave free people of color the possibility to perform their own racial identity through appearance, behaviour, and actions. Their uncertain status makes them a privileged subject to study the negotiation and formation of racial identity, as well as the definition of citizenship in colonial and post-colonial contexts.