Americans have long viewed marriage between a white man and a white woman as a sacred union. But marriages between African Americans have seldom been treated with the same reverence. This discriminatory legacy traces back to centuries of slavery; when the overwhelming majority of black married couples were bound in servitude as well as wedlock. Though their unions were not legally recognized; slaves commonly married; fully aware that their marital bonds would be sustained or nullified according to the whims of white masters.Bound in Wedlock is the first comprehensive history of African American marriage in the nineteenth century. Uncovering the experiences of African American spouses in plantation records; legal and court documents; and pension files; Tera W. Hunter reveals the myriad ways couples adopted; adapted; revised; and rejected white Christian ideas of marriage. Setting their own standards for conjugal relationships; enslaved husbands and wives were creative and; of necessity; practical in starting and supporting families under conditions of uncertainty and cruelty.After emancipation; white racism continued to menace black marriages. Laws passed during Reconstruction; ostensibly to secure the civil rights of newly freed African American citizens; were often coercive and repressive. Informal antebellum traditions of marriage were criminalized; and the new legal regime became a convenient tool for plantation owners to discipline agricultural workers. Recognition of the right of African Americans to enter into wedlock on terms equal to whites would remain a struggle into the Jim Crow era; and its legacy would resonate well into the twentieth century.
#102195 in Books Belknap Press of Harvard University Press 2009-02-28 2008-10-06Ingredients: Example IngredientsOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.18 x 2.04 x 6.54l; 3.04 #File Name: 06740307021040 pages
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. I'm happy with the investment...By Kimberly K. SandersI purchased "God's War" because I wanted to learn a bit of history about the Crusades and about the philosophies that drive war. This book is exactly what I was looking for. I usually read the reviews for books and use them to help me make a purchase decision. The reviews for "God's War" are understandably mixed. Many who responded negatively seemed not to enjoy the book because it is written in an academic style. The vocabulary can be a challenge. My solution was to purchase the e-book (in addition to the traditional text I had already purchased). Like other readers; the language; the historical references; and the writing style kept me on my toes. Having it on my ipad gave me immediate access to definitions and Wikipedia. Also; being able to make notes easily was a benefit of the e-book. Still; I often reread paragraphs or pages for full comprehension; but that's just what it takes sometimes. The value of working a bit with a text is in the knowledge and insights gained that can be applied to contemporary issues. For me; the need to know where we've come from is key in understanding where we are now; and ultimately where we're going.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Dry and dense; but insightfulBy DAJAs other reviewers have said; this is a dry and detailed book. The prose is not very easy to read; and to follow it you'll probably need to know a lot of the historical background beforehand. Moreover; Tyerman makes a few unambiguous grammatical errors; seemingly because he loses track of where his convoluted sentences are going. But a lot of insight is hidden within the dull text.Medieval Christians earnestly believed in the crusader cause. But by delving into such detail; Tyerman shows that in nearly every episode of crusading; there were people who mixed their religious obligations with blatant self-interest. Christian kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula used crusading ideology; along with the full set of church-based incentives for crusaders; to bolster their wars against the Muslim kingdoms. The "Albigensian Crusade" against heretics in southern France was endorsed by the church but driven largely by French nobles' desire to seize land in the region. The Teutonic Knights; founded to forcibly convert the remaining pagan peoples of northeastern Europe; continued to exist long after the conversion of Lithuania left them with no reason for being; and western nobles habitually joined them on "crusading" raids to fight the knights' local rivals. Mediterranean powers from western Europe; like Sicily and Venice; used efforts to bolster the crusader states in the early 12th century as excuses to seize territory from the Byzantine Empire. Westerners' willingness to fight the Byzantines contributed to the convoluted series of mistakes that led the Fourth Crusade to attack Constantinople; but greed wasn't the sole motivation in that case. By the time they actually carried out the sack; the crusaders were trapped by their own bad decisions. And while the sack was a disaster; it may only have hastened the disintegration of an empire that was already being torn apart by civil war.A major focus of Tyerman's work is how crusading ideology developed. Christianity's history of justifying violence on religious grounds goes back at least to Augustine; but Urban II and his predecessor Gregory VII invented the idea that people could be forgiven their sins if they fought a divinely endorsed war. The resulting system of indulgences; originally designed to encourage the crusades; expanded over the centuries; providing a major motivation for the Protestant Reformation. Meanwhile; the concept of spreading Christianity through violence mutated; especially after crusading itself came to seem futile. In this diffuse form; crusading ideology shaped the European view of the entire world and contributed even to the Spanish attitude toward their conquests in the Americas.I read this book alongside Thomas Asbridge's The Crusades; which isn't as extensive as Tyerman's book but is much better at telling a story and is easier for newcomers to the subject. Asbridge also gives nearly equal space to the Muslim as well as the Christian perspective; whereas Tyerman focuses on Europeans. If you haven't read about the crusades in depth before; go to Asbridge first; but if you have; Tyerman is well worth reading.6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. massive; informative; entertainingBy Craig MACKINNONTo tackle a subject as broad (geographically) and long (in time) as the Crusades is an imposing task. To do so in a one-volume treatment; balancing the line between scholarly research and popular interest is even more difficult. It is a tribute to the author (and; presumably his editors and proofreaders) that this book succeeds. I am no more than an armchair historian; and certainly no expert on the Crusades; so I can only take the word of Tyerman's colleagues that this is a well-researched and referenced text. As an armchair historian; I might be more qualified to testify to the book's general readability; and it is very readable - dense; yes; but also entertaining and informative. More importantly it is never confusing nor does it degenerate into a compendium of names and deeds.This is no mean feat - Crusading stretched all across Europe and into North Africa and; obviously; the Holy Land. As such; the number of princes; bishops; cult leaders; merchants; and commoners that participated is enormous; made the more confusing because names might duplicate over the centuries and/or between different nations; while some people will have multiple names due to their multiple titles (e.g. King Conrad II of Jerusalem was also Emporer Conrad IV of the HRE). Somehow; Tyerman skirts the fine line between excessive detailed explanation and confusion - you are never required to keep track of all the noble lines of European royal houses!Another potential pitfall to writing about any military campaign (or sets of campaigns) is to overemphasize certain aspects. Although the chronicle of battles and seiges might be the most entertaining; the reader is hardly well-informed about the true nature of warfare including the logistics; politics; etc. Thus; the various (and varied) Crusades depicted in this book are covered end-to-end: from recruitment to victory (or defeat) on the battlefield. Much space is devoted to the internicene quarreling of the Christian nations (e.g. England vs. France; various claimants to the Imperial throne; the trading rivalries between Venice; Genoa; and Padua; etc.); and how these coloured the national characters of each Crusade. Finances are equally well documented - mounting a campaign over such a distance was expensive.Ultimately; any such massive history as this comes down to the execution of the writing; and here is Tyerman's greatest success. He comes off as knowledgeable and populist at the same time. It's rare that I'm sent to my dictionary as often as with this book - the author using such new and useful words (to me) as "elision" (deliberately omitting something) and "fissiparous" (reproducing by fission) - but the author also talks of "the gravy train" and uses other vernacular terms. Thus is such a thick subject rendered entertaining in the hands of a skilled writer.My only complaint is that; as the Crusades proceed; they appear to become much of a muchness. It becomes a formula: 1. set up the political scene; 2. proceed to the recruitment stage; 3. talk about finances; and 4. describe the military campaign. This pattern repeats for each Crusade; meaning it repeats 10+ times through the course of the book. There's not much Tyerman can do about that; I suppose; and maintain his rigour; but it does diminish the reading experience somewhat.
