The Making of the American South A Short History, 1500-1877

by Harris, J. William

• ISBN13: 9780631209638
• ISBN10: 0631209638
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-01-23
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

This concise overview of the history and historiography of the American South puts the major problems and issues of that region into clear, accessible prose. It focuses on the earliest days of the Old South, up to the Reconstruction, concentrating on the topics that are of most concern to historians. Issues such as slavery, race relations, and the Civil War are all thoroughly explored, with both popular and scholarly arguments presented. Beginning with the development of European outposts in the 16th Century, the book examines the Southern colonies, the Revolutionary War, and the road to the Civil War with great authority and in highly readable language. Threaded in the survey material are explorations of themes and topics that lie at the heart of the Southern way of life: its economy, paternalism, politics, and the role of slavery. This is an ideal textbook for students learning about the development of the American South, as well as general readers interested in U.S. history.

Author Biography

J. William Harris is Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire. He is the author of Plain Folk and Gentry in a Slave Society (1995) and Deep Souths: Delta, Piedmont, and Sea Island Society in the Age of Segregation (2001).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	viii
Map: The United States in 1860	ix
Prologue	x
Part I Before Southern History
1 Before the South	3	(36)
2 Colonials Become Americans	39	(30)
3 Southern Power in the New Nation	69	(28)
Part II Making the Old South
4 An American Slave Society	97	(47)
5 The Politics of Slavery and the Road to Secession	144	(40)
6 Civil Wars	184	(39)
7 The Reconstruction of the South and the Construction of the southern History	223	(26)
Notes	249	(24)
Bibliographical Note	273	(5)
Index	278