A powerful new book that corrects a false myth in African American history that Kirkus Reviews calls "a thoughtful antidote to white Southern propaganda."
According to an oft repeated legend, during Christmas before the Civil War, all enslaved people in the American South enjoyed lengthy vacations of a week or more depending on how long an oversized "Yule log" burned in their master's fireplace. As long as the log held out, slaves escaped heavy labor and their masters' whips and enjoyed a rare freedom of movement to go and do what they wished as well as gorge themselves on food and drink they never got the rest of the year. No wonder they soaked those logs in swamps to make them burn even longer.
But is it true?
In this book, historian Robert May takes readers on a detective caper as he investigates a story that reaches back to colonial America and continues today. May finds no evidence of the Yule log tradition in the historical record, instead showing that it originated with pro-Confederate Lost Cause propagandists attempting to present the South's prewar system of human bondage in as soft tones as possible. Tales about good-natured masters and unresentful slaves jovially sharing Christmases played to this impulse beautifully.
Debunking the Yule Log Myth does more than correct the historical record. It serves as a highly instructive case study in the process of historical mythmaking. This captivating tale will appeal to all readers interested in African American history and the long struggle to support white supremacy by creating a mythical antebellum American South.
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Half Title
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Introduction: The Biggest Sweet Gum We Could Find
- Chapter 1: Colonel Openheartās Great Back-Log
- Chapter 2: Prattvilleās Soggy Fixed Fact
- Chapter 3: Uncle Nedās Big Laugh
- Chapter 4: LaSalle Pickettās Deceits
- Chapter 5: A Sorcererās Revelations
- Conclusion: I Allow Three Days at Christmas
- Coda: Samuel Agnewās Christmas Eve
- Abbreviations
- Notes
- Acknowledgments
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Yes, you can access Debunking the Yule Log Myth by Robert E. May in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & African American History. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.