Colonial Complexions: Race and Bodies in Eighteenth-Century America

In Colonial Complexions, historian Sharon Block examines how Anglo—Americans built racial ideologies out of descriptions of physical appearance. By analyzing more than 4,000 advertisements for fugitive servants and slaves in colonial newspapers alongside scores of transatlantic sources, she reveals how colonists transformed observable characteristics into racist reality. Building on her expertise in digital humanities, Block repurposes these well—known historical sources to newly highlight ...