Plain Folk and Gentry in a Slave Society

White Liberty and Black Slavery in Augusta's Hinterlands

J William Harris author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Louisiana State University Press

Published:1st Apr '98

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Plain Folk and Gentry in a Slave Society cover

In this exciting study of the communities on both sides of the Savannah River in Georgia and South Carolina, J. William Harris explores two great ironies of American history, the South's commitment to a liberty supported by slavery and its attempt to maintain the status quo with a war that undermined southern society. Relying on strong research in quantifiable data as well as manuscript records, Harris examines why white southerners, most of whom did not own slaves, united in a long, bloody war to preserve the institution. He argues that slaveowners relied on an ideology of liberty, a potential for social mobility, and a web of personal relationships between classes to contain white class divisions and ensure control over the black population. The strains of war, Harris shows, dissolved these bonds of community and made Confederate victory impossible, forever changing southern society.

ISBN: 9780807122655

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

278 pages