Synopses & Reviews
The fascinating collection of essays and documents in these volumes provides a comprehensive view of the culture of the American South as well as its political, social, and economic history. The compelling documents are grouped with important secondary sources, accompanied by chapter introductions, selection headnotes, and suggested readings.
About the Author
Paul Escott is Reynolds Professor of History at Wake Forest University. His academic degrees are from Harvard College and Duke University. Among his books are AFTER SECESSION: JEFFERSON DAVIS AND THE FAILURE OF CONFEDERATE NATIONALISM, SLAVERY REMEMBERED: A RECORD OF TWENTIETH-CENTURY SLAVE NARRATIVES, MANY EXCELLENT PEOPLE: POWER AND PRIVILEGE IN NORTH CAROLINA, 1850-1900, MILITARY NECESSITY: CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS IN THE CONFEDERACY, "WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH THE NEGRO?": LINCOLN, WHITE RACISM, AND CIVIL WAR AMERICA, and THE CONFEDERACY: THE SLAVEHOLDERS' FAILED VENTURE. David Goldfield is the Robert Lee Bailey Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. A native of Memphis, he grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and attended the University of Maryland. He is the author or editor of fifteen books mostly dealing with the history of the American South, two of which received the Mayflower Award for Non-Fiction. His most recent book is AMERICA AFLAME: HOW THE CIVIL WAR CREATED A NATION (Bloomsbury Press, 2011). Sally G. McMillen, the Mary Reynolds Babcock Professor of History at Davidson College, earned her Ph.D. from Duke University. Previous publications include MOTHERHOOD IN THE OLD SOUTH (1990), SOUTHERN WOMEN: BLACK AND WHITE IN THE OLD SOUTH (1991), TO RAISE UP THE SOUTH: SUNDAY SCHOOLS IN BLACK AND WHITE CHURCHES, 1865-1915 (2001), SENECA FALLS AND THE ORIGINS OF THE WOMEN'S RIGHTS MOVEMENT (2008) as well as several articles in the Journal of Southern History and the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences. She is currently working on a biography of Lucy Stone. Elizabeth Hayes Turner, professor of history at the University of North Texas, earned her Ph.D. from Rice University. She is the author of WOMEN, CULTURE, AND COMMUNITY: RELIGION AND REFORM IN GALVESTON, 1880-1920 (1997); WOMEN AND GENDER IN THE NEW SOUTH, 1865-1945 (2009); co-author of GALVESTON AND THE 1900 STORM: CATASTROPHE AND CATALYST (2000); and co-editor of five books, including LONE STAR PASTS: MEMORY AND HISTORY IN TEXAS (2005). She is the author of several articles in edited anthologies and the Southern Literary Journal and is currently completing a book JUNETEENTH: THE EVOLUTION OF AN EMANCIPATION CELEBRATION. Thomas G. Paterson, professor emeritus of history at the University of Connecticut, graduated from the University of New Hampshire (B.A., 1963) and the University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D., 1968). He is the author of Soviet-American Confrontation (1973), Meeting the Communist Threat (1988), On Every Front (1992), Contesting Castro (1994), America Ascendant (with J. Garry Clifford, 1995), and A People and a Nation (with Mary Beth Norton et al., 2001). Tom is also the editor of Cold War Critics (1971), Kennedy's Quest for Victory (1989), Imperial Surge (with Stephen G. Rabe, 1992), The Origins of the Cold War (with Robert McMahon, 1999), Explaining the History of American Foreign Relations (with Michael J. Hogan, 2004), and Major Problems in American Foreign Relations (with Dennis Merrill, 2010). With Bruce Jentleson, he served as senior editor for the Encyclopedia of American Foreign Relations (1997). A microfilm edition of The United States and Castro's Cuba, 1950s-1970s: The Paterson Collection appeared in 1999. He has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of American History and Diplomatic History. A recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, he has directed National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminars for College Teachers. In 2000 the New England History Teachers Association recognized his excellence in teaching and mentoring with the Kidger Award. Besides visits to many American campuses, Tom has lectured in Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Russia, and Venezuela. He is a past president of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, which in 2008 honored him with the Laura and Norman Graebner Award for "lifetime achievement" in scholarship, service, and teaching. A native of Oregon, Tom is now informally associated with Southern Oregon University.
Table of Contents
Note: Each chapter concludes with Further Reading. 1. WHAT IS THE OLD SOUTH? Essays. W. J. Cash, The Continuity of Southern History. C. Vann Woodward, The Search for Southern Identity. John B. Boles, The Difficulty of Consensus on the South. John Shelton Reed, The Three Souths. 2. THE ATLANTIC WORLD. Documents. 1. Map Shows Sixteenth-Century Atlantic Trade Ports, c. 1620. 2. Plants, Animals, and Microorganisms Travel to and from the New World, 1500 to 1600. 3. African Medicinal Plants Come to the Caribbean on Slave Ships, 1500 to 1600. 4. Elmina, a Dutch Slave Fort, Holds African Slaves Captive before the Middle Passage, c. 1600. 5. Englishman John Hawkins Details his First Voyage to the West Indies, 1562-1563. 6. Guzman de Silva Writes to Philip II Regarding the Slave Trade, 1565. 7. Journal of the Arthur Details the Slave Trade, 1677-1678. 8. John Barbot Describes the Slave Trade in Guinea, 1678. Essays. Ira Berlin, From Creole to African: Atlantic Creoles and the Origins of African-American Society. Philip D. Morgan, Virginia?s Other Prototype: The Caribbean. 3. SETTLEMENT OF RED, WHITE, AND BLACK. Documents. 1. Captain John Smith Describes the Natives of Virginia, 1612. 2. Richard Frethorne Writes his Parents about his Indenture, 1623. 3. Nathaniel Bacon Leads Rebellion in Virginia, 1675-1676. 4. Virginia?s House of Burgesses Tightens Statutes involving Slaves, 1630-1705. 5. South Carolina Restricts the Liberties of Slaves, 1740. 6. Indian Trader John Lawson Writes about his Travels in Carolina, 1709. 7. The South Carolina Colonial Legislature Regulates the Indian Trade, 1751. Essays. Kathleen M. Brown, Gender and Race in Colonial Virginia. James Axtell, Making Do. 4. THE MATURING OF THE COLONIAL SOUTH. Documents. 1. Eliza Lucas Writes on Life in Colonial South Carolina, 1740-1742. 2. Colonial Georgia Debates Slavery, 1735-1750. 3. South Carolina Newspapers Advertise for Runaway Slaves, 1743-1784. 4. Merchant Robert Pringle Observes Life and Trade in Charleston, 1739-1743. 5. William Byrd II Discovers New Crops in Virginia and Deals with Cherokee and Catawba Indians, 1738 - 1740. 6. Reverend Charles Woodmason Decries the ?Wild Peoples? of the Carolina Backcountry, 1768. 7. Naturalist William Bartram Describes his Travels in the South, 1773 - 77. Essays. Lorena S. Walsh, How Tobacco Production Shaped Slave Life in the Chesapeake. Jack P. Greene, Georgia?s Attempt to Become a Viable Colony. 5. THE REVOLUTION AND ITS AFTERMATH. Documents. 1. Men in the Backcountry Articulate their Grievances, 1767. 2. Ministers Try to Convert the Carolina Backcountry, 1775. 3. Lord Dunmore Issues his Proclamation to Free Virginia?s Slaves, 1775. 4. Thomas Jefferson Establishes Religious Freedom in Virginia, 1777. 5. Eliza Wilkinson Describes Women and War, 1779. 6. Southern Patriots Explain Their Concerns, 1774, 1780, 1781: James Madison to William Bradford, 1774; Joseph Jones to James Madison, 1780; Richard Henry Lee to William Lee, 1781; George Mason to Pearson Chapman, 1781. 7. The U.S. Constitution Deals with Slavery, 1787. Essays. Sylvia R. Frey, The Impact of African American Resistance During the War. Michael A. McDonnell, Class War? Class Struggles during the American Revolution in Virginia. 6. THE EMERGENCE OF SOUTHERN NATIONALISM. Documents. 1. Virginia and Kentucky Respond to the Alien and Sedition Acts, 1798, 1799. 2. Southern Congressmen Defend Slavery in Missouri, 1820. 3. Georgia Passes Laws Extending Jurisdiction over the Cherokees, 1829, 1830. 4. The Supreme Court Addresses Removal of the Indians from Georgia, 1831. 5. South Carolina Tries to Nullify Federal Tariffs, 1832. 6. Newspapers React to the Nullification Crisis in South Carolina, 1832. 7. John C. Calhoun Defends Slavery, 1837. Essays. Adam Rothman, Civilizing the Cotton Frontier. Don E. Fehrenbacher, The Missouri Controversy: A Critical Moment in Southern Sectionalism. Pauline Maier, The Road Not Taken: Nullification, John C. Calhoun, and the Revolutionary Tradition in South Carolina. 7. THE SLAVEHOLDERS? SOUTH. Documents. 1. Maps Show the Increasing Importance of Cotton to the South, 1821, 1859. 2. Cotton Planter Bennet Barrow Describes Life in Louisiana, 1838. 3. Two Site Plans Show Plantations in Georgia and Alabama, c. 1850 (1936). 4. William Johnson, a Free Black, Details Life in Natchez, Mississippi, 1838-1842. 5. Edmund Ruffin Describes His Travels in the Carolinas, 1840. 6. Charles Colcock Jones Provides Religious Instruction to Slaves, 1842. 7. Charles Manigault Reveals Concerns of a Wealthy Planter, 1833-1853. Essays. Mark M. Smith, Plantation Management by the Clock. James Oakes, Plantation Mastery. 8. THE SLAVE AND FREE BLACK EXPERIENCE. Documents. 1. Harry McMillan, a Freedman, Describes His Bondage, 1863. 2. Nancy Boudry, an Ex-Slave, Recalls Slavery, 1936. 3. Harriet Jacobs Laments Her Trials as a Slave Girl (1828), 1861. 4. George and Lucy Skipwith Write Their Master, 1847, 1857, 1859. 5. Slave Traders Advertise Slave Auctions, 1842, 1855. 6. Charleston?s Free Blacks Fear Reenslavement, 1859-1860. 7. Photo Shows Five Generations of a South Carolina Slave Family. Essays. Brenda Stevenson, Distress and Discord in Slave Families. Peter Kolchin, Antebellum Slavery: Slave Community. John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweninger, Whither Thou Goest. 9. WHITE WOMEN?S LIFE AND CULTURE IN THE OLD SOUTH. Documents. 1. Thomas Roderick Dew Idealizes Southern Women, 1835. 2. Mrs. Virginia Cary Writes about Female Piety, 1830. 3. Writings Reveal the Sorrows of Childbirth, 1809, c. 1800. 4. Lucy Shaw Laments the Death of Her Child, 1841. 5. Julia Blanche Munroe and Her Parents Correspond while She Attends School, 1847 - 1850. 6. The Holly Springs (Mississippi) Female Institute Advertises its Offerings, 1859. 7. Memorial of the Female Citizens of Fredericksburg Asks for Gradual Emancipation, c. 1831. Essays. Elizabeth R. Varon, White Women and Politics in Antebellum Virginia. Anya Jabour, Educating Southern Women. 10. NON-SLAVEHOLDING WHITES. Documents. 1. Ferdinand L. Steel?s Diary Reveals Life of a Yeoman, 1838-1841. 2. A Baptist Church Meets in Conference, 1859. 3. Hinton Rowan Helper Attacks Slavery, 1857. 4. Census Records Reveal Demographics of Guilford County, North Carolina, 1850. 5. Edward Isham Describes His Violent Life, 1860. 6. Travelers to the South Describe the Life of Yeomen, 1849, 1855. 7. Newspaper Accounts Report on Camp Meetings in Virginia, 1819, 1820. Essays. Charles Bolton, Edward Isham and the World of Poor Whites. Jeff Forret, The Underground Economy. 11. SECTIONALISM AND SECESSION. Documents. 1. The Nashville Convention of 1850 Offers Resolutions on Slavery, 1850. 2. Reverend Thornton Stringfellow Defends Slavery, 1856. 3. The Supreme Court Decides the Dred Scott v. Sanford Case, 1857. 4. James Henry Hammond Praises King Cotton, 1858. 5. Joseph A. Turner Reacts to John Brown?s Raid on Harper?s Ferry, 1860. 6. Southern Newspaper Editors Speculate on Secession, 1860, 1861. 7. The Jones Family Responds to the Republican Victory, 1860-1861. 8. E.S. Dargan Speaks to the Secession Convention of Alabama, 1861. Essays. Lacy K. Ford, Jr., South Carolina Leaders Defend Slavery and Secession. Eric Walther, We Shall Fire the Southern Heart: William Lowndes Yancey. 12. THE CONFEDERATE EXPERIENCE. Documents. 1. Dick and Tally Simpson Describe the Life of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1863. 2. General Robert E. Lee Writes to J.E.B. Stuart and Jefferson Davis: To J.E.B. Stuart, 1862; Telegram to President Jefferson Davis, 1862; Letter to Jefferson Davis, 1863. 3. Photo Shows Dead Confederate Soldiers of General Starke, Hagerstown Pike, 1862. 4. Joseph E. Brown Attacks Conscription, 1862. 5. Nonslaveholders Protest Wartime Inequities, 1861, 1863. 6. The Confederacy Struggles with Desertion and Disaffection, 1863. 7. Confederate Women React to War, 1862-1865. 8. Catherine Devereux Edmonston Writes about War, 1862, 1863, 1864. Essays. Emory Thomas, The Revolution Brings Revolutionary Change. Paul D. Escott, The Failure of Confederate Nationalism. Drew Gilpin Faust, ?We Shall Never...Be the Same?: How War Affected Southern Women. 13. EMANCIPATION AND RECONSTRUCTION. Documents. 1. Ex-Slaves Recall Their First Taste of Freedom, 1937. 2. Clarissa Burdett Recounts the Difficulties of a Black Soldier?s Wife, 1864. 3. Thaddeus Stevens Advocates the Redistribution of Land, 1865. 4. Mary Jones Shares her Concerns about Reconstruction, 1865, 1866: Mary Jones to her Daughter, 1865; Eva Jones to Mary Jones, 1865; Mary Jones to Charles C. Jones, 1865; Mary Jones to Charles C. Jones, 1866. 5. Congress Passes the Military Reconstruction Act, 1867. 6. The Presbyterian Church in the United States Engages in Religious Uplift 1866, 1868. 7. Generals Steedman and Fullerton Report on the Freedmen?s Bureau in the South, 1866. 8. Freedmen and Women Testify before Congress on the Ku Klux Klan, 1871. Essays. Hannah Rosen, Houses, Yards, and other Domestic Domains. Sally McMillen, A Cure for the South.