Synopses & Reviews
In the antebellum South, divorce was an explosive issue. As one lawmaker put it, divorce was to be viewed as a form of "madness," and as another asserted, divorce reduced communities to the "lowest ebb of degeneracy." How was it that in this climate, the number of divorces rose steadily during the antebellum era? In Families in Crisis, Loren Schweninger uses previously unexplored records to argue that the difficulties these divorcing families faced reveal much about the reality of life in a slave-holding society as well as the myriad difficulties confronted by white southern families who chose not to divorce.
Review
"Dazzling in its sweep and depth, Schweninger's study of divorce, slavery, and the law provides a window into an entire matrix of household and social relations. Gender, race, and property relations are considered across class lines, all within the South's institutions of marriage and slavery."
--Victoria E. Bynum, author of The Long Shadow of the Civil War: Southern Dissent and Its Legacies
Review
"Original, insightful, and gripping. With meticulous research, lively examples of divorces and judicial controversies, and captivating prose, Schweninger explores the problems that southern devotion to patriarchy perpetuated."
--Bertram Wyatt-Brown, Richard J. Milbauer Professor Emeritus, University of Florida, and author of Southern Honor, Yankee Saints and Southern Sinners, and The Shaping of Southern Culture
Review
"Schweninger masterfully provides readers with an "understanding [of] divorce, alimony, slavery and the law in the Old South". . . . Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above."
-Choice
Review
"Presents the most comprehensive examination of the legal history of [divorce], drawing from nearly eight hundred divorce cases in fifteen slave states. . . . A meaningful contribution to our understanding of the Southern family, law, and slavery."
-Journal of American History
Review
"Those who wish a wider perspective on southern divorce during the antebellum period will warmly greet Schweninger's new book. . . . The book's rich detail and careful analysis greatly enhance our current understanding of marital breakdown in the Old South."
-Journal of Interdisciplinary History
Review
"[An] intensively researched book. . . . Schweninger describes cases in clear, concise prose and he includes helpful tables summarizing his findings."
-American Historical Review
Review
"A well-written book that adds to what is known and is recommended for libraries and anyone with an interest in the subject area."
-Arkansas Historical Quarterly
Review
"A compelling read."
-Slavery and Abolition
Review
"Poses some important challenges to previous assumptions about sex, class, and race in the Old South. . . . Schweninger's study will be quite useful to scholars of southern law, slavery, and women's history."
-North Carolina Historical Review
About the Author
Loren Schweninger is Elizabeth Rosenthal Excellence Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is coauthor, with the late John Hope Franklin, of In Search of the Promised Land: A Slave Family in the Old South.