Walter Johnson’s article in the Journal of Social History, “On Agency,” raises important questions about the limits of using agency as a way to study the history of the slaves. One of his biggest arguments is that agency has often been linked to any type of enslaved resistance and to proving the preservation of their “humanity.” Johnson argues that resistance, humanity, and agency need to be separated in order to see beyond the slave status. Slaves existed outside of their enslavement and were human. Human in more ways then just their ability to resist. Agency and resistance are two separate concepts, and should not be used together in the same sense. Johnson aims to change history that looks more into the daily life of the slave. Johnson
