- 288 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
The cultural memory of plantations in the Old South has long been clouded by myth. A recent reckoning with the centrality of slavery to the US national story, however, has shifted the meaning of these sites. Plantations are no longer simply seen as places of beauty and grandiose hospitality; their reality as spaces of enslavement, exploitation, and violence is increasingly at the forefront of our scholarly and public narratives. Yet even this reckoning obscures what these sites meant to so many forced to live and labor on them: plantations were Black homes as much as white.
Insightfully reading the built environment of plantations, considering artifact fragments found in excavations of slave dwellings, and drawing on legal records and plantation owners' papers, Whitney Nell Stewart illuminates how enslaved people struggled to make home amid innumerable constraints and obstacles imposed by white southerners. By exploring the material remnants of the past, Stewart demonstrates how homemaking was a crucial part of the battle over slavery and freedom, a fight that continues today in consequential confrontations over who has the right to call this nation home.
Frequently asked questions
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Epigraph
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Language
- Introduction. Home in Slavery
- Chapter One. Demarcating Home and Labor: Montpelier Plantation, Virginia
- Chapter Two. Concealing for Privacy and Protection: Stagville Plantation, North Carolina
- Chapter Three. Rooting One’s People: Chatham Plantation, Alabama
- Chapter Four. Projecting Domestic Authority: Patton Place, Texas
- Chapter Five. Building Stability and Legacy: Redcliffe Plantation, South Carolina
- Conclusion. Home in Freedom
- Appendix. Why, What, and How: A Note on Material Culture Theory, Sources, and Method
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index