Bill Smith

Research Topic

Slavery and Nonhuman Animals in the Era of Emancipation and Reconstruction

My research focuses on the impact of nonhuman animals on plantation slavery in the American South. Specifically, I am interested in the exploitation of nonhuman animals by enslavers within the Plantationocene context. Additionally, I am focusing on the way in which enslaved persons interacted with the natural world, including its nonhuman animals, during the act of self-emancipation. 

Supervisor: Emily West

Background: Prior to coming to Oxford, I earned my MSc at the University of Edinburgh. I completed my undergraduate studies in the United States, where I competed athletically as a NCAA Division-1 wrestler. I have publications in American Nineteenth Century History, Slavery & Abolition, and Quaker History. My public outreach and work as a secondary school teacher has been published by the Associated Press, New York Times, Washington Post, and other major news outlets.