Poor Whites of the Antebellum South: Tenants and Laborers in Central North Carolina and Northeast Mississippi

Charles C. Bolton

Published by Duke University Press 1994

Poor Whites of the Antebellum South

Tenants and Laborers in Central North Carolina and Northeast Mississippi

Charles C. Bolton

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822397632

Overview
Contents

About this book

In Poor Whites of the Antebellum South, Charles C. Bolton gives a distinct voice to one of the most elusive groups in the society of the Old South. Bolton's detailed examination reveals much about the lives of these landless white tenants and laborers and their relationship to yeoman farmers, black slaves, free blacks and elite whites. Providing a provocative analysis of the failure of the Jeffersonian "yeoman ideal" of democracy in white-majority areas, this book also shows how poor whites represented a more significant presence on the political, economic, and social landscape than previously had been thought.
Looking at two specific regions--the "settled" central piedmont of North Carolina and the "frontier" of northeast Mississippi--Bolton describes how poor whites played an important, though circumscribed, role in the local economy. Dependent on temporary employment, they represented a troubling presence in a society based on the principles of white independence and black slavery. Although perceived by southern leaders as a threat, poor whites, Bolton argues, did not form a political alliance with either free or enslaved blacks because of numerous factors including white racism, kinship ties, religion, education, and mobility. A concluding discussion of the crisis of 1860-61 examines the rejection of secession by significant numbers of poor whites, as well as the implications for their future as the Old South turned toward the new.
Poor Whites of the Antebellum South sheds light on a group often neglected in southern history. It is an important contribution that will be of interest to all students and historians of the American South.

Author / Editor information

Charles C. Bolton is Director of the Mississippi Oral History Program and Assistant Professor of History at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
List of Tables and Figures Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
1 A Window into the World of Antebellum Poor Whites: The Story of Edward Isham Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2 "A Third Class of White People": Poor Whites in North Carolina's Central Piedmont Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
3 A Troubling Presence: White Poverty in a Slave Society Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	42
4 Poverty Moves West: The Migration of Poor Whites to the Old Southwest Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	66
5 Poor Whites in the Cotton South: Northeast Mississippi Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	84
6 Electoral Politics and the Popular Presence: The Political World of the Antebellum South Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
7 Electoral Politics versus the Popular Presence: The Secession Crisis in North Carolina Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
8 Electoral Politics versus the Popular Presence: The Secession Crisis in Mississippi Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
Epilogue: Poor Whites and the "New South" Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
Appendix A Note on the Use of the Federal Manuscript Census Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	251

Language: English
Publisher: Duke University Press
Pages
- Main content: 272
Illustrations
- Other: 6 photographs, 16 tables

eBook

Published: December 21, 1993
ISBN: 9780822397632