White Society in the Antebellum South"In this book Bruce Collins adopts a fresh perspective to re-examine white society in the American South before the Civil War. He starts with the central fact that Southern whites displayed considerable unity of purpose in fighting the Civil War; and he looks back at the generation of white Southerners before the conflict to analyse the social bonds that helped to draw these people together. By examining a large body of scholarly work on the antebellum South, and a diverse sample of original sources, he is able to offer a broadly based and argued explanation of the emergence of a Southern identity from a loosely structured, often contrasting and lightly governed society. Factors which Dr. Collins sees as essential to an understanding of Southern attitudes include those of obvious importance, such as cotton culture, family life, and racial thinking stimulated by slavery, together with less frequently analysed social bonds--for example the Indian presence, historical consciousness, physical and social mobility and respectability. These and other topics are fully explored by Dr. Collins in this stimulating volume, which will be welcomed not only by the student and professional historian, but also by anyone interested in the history of the American South."--Back cover. |
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agricultural Alabama American antebellum areas argued became blacks British building cent churches Civil concern cotton courts created culture differences early economic effect especially established evangelical example existed fact farmers farms federal force free blacks frontier Georgia given governor held historians historical ideas important improvement Indian individual industrial institutions interest labour land late least legislative legislature less lived males Mississippi mobility moral Moreover nature nineteenth century non-slaveowners North Northern offered ordinary past perhaps period petition plantation planters political poor popular population possible reason record region religious remained removal respectable response rituals rural sense served slaveowners slavery slaves social society South South Carolina Southern Southern whites Tennessee towns urban Virginia wealth widely women
Bibliographic information
| Title | White Society in the Antebellum South Studies in modern history |
| Author | Bruce Collins |
| Edition | illustrated, reprint |
| Publisher | Longman, 1985 |
| ISBN | 0582491940, 9780582491946 |
| Length | 216 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |