An Archaeology of Prosperity and its Meanings in Antebellum Communities of Color

ABSTRACT The long, ongoing history of communities of color in southern New England is inextricably interwoven with the evolution of an Atlantic economy. This article examines that relationship by focusing on work and opportunity, achievement and prosperity, and community survival in the antebellum period. My entry points are Isaac Rose of the historic Gayhead Indian community, Paul Cuffe, Sr. of Westport, and Frederick Douglass during his sojourn in New Bedford—men of color who became prosperous or lived among those who were, men of color whose accomplishments challenged racial prejudices and helped sustain their communities. Future historic archaeological studies can recover evidences of their practices of prosperity, and deepen our understandings of how those practices shaped and enriched cultures of opposition. Archaeologies of prosperity can provide a critical pathway for documenting what happened as others built and extended their freedoms in an earlier America, freedoms which were then denied them again.