DOC In Joy and in Sorrow: Women; Family; and Marriage in the Victorian South; 1830-1900 by From Oxford University Press in History

Description

From John Hope Franklin; America's foremost African American historian; comes this groundbreaking analysis of slave resistance and escape. A sweeping panorama of plantation life before the Civil War; this book reveals that slaves frequently rebelled against their masters and ran away from their plantations whenever they could. For generations; important aspects about slave life on the plantations of the American South have remained shrouded. Historians thought; for instance; that slaves were generally pliant and resigned to their roles as human chattel; and that racial violence on the plantation was an aberration. In this precedent setting book; John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweninger demonstrate that; contrary to popular belief; significant numbers of slaves did in fact frequently rebel against their masters and struggled to attain their freedom. By surveying a wealth of documents; such as planters' records; petitions to county courts and state legislatures; and local newspapers; this book shows how slaves resisted; when; where; and how they escaped; where they fled to; how long they remained in hiding; and how they survived away from the plantation. Of equal importance; it examines the reactions of the white slaveholding class; revealing how they marshaled considerable effort to prevent runaways; meted out severe punishments; and established patrols to hunt down escaped slaves. Reflecting a lifetime of thought by our leading authority in African American history; this book provides the key to truly understanding the relationship between slaveholders and the runaways who challenged the system--illuminating as never before the true nature of the South's "most peculiar institution."