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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
crispinsday's review
4.0
The book is described as "written by leading historians of Savannah, Georgia, and the South, the volume includes a mix of longer thematic essays and shorter sidebars focusing on individual people, events, and places". It functions as an unusual cross between an academic history and something more like a travel guide (it also includes illustrations and photographs). It covers the history of African Americans, enslaved and free, in Savannah, Georgia, from the beginnings of the transatlantic slave trade through to the Jim Crow era, and could be read cover to cover as a chronological history (albeit through a series of essays by different authors). I have instead dipped in and out. One chapter deservedly excoriates Mary Telfair, a rich slaveowner of the nineteenth century whose name is still well-known in Savannah through her endowment of the Telfair museums (which sponsored this book). It's a glimpse at the development of Southern slaveholding paternalism and the antebellum conviction that 'mastery actively benefitted slaves', and all from a woman's point of view. Another fascinating chapter covers black enslaved labour in an urban context, including the enslaved women who essentially ran the food markets of the city, an aspect of Southern life and food history that was new to me.
A book that is well worth a look as a picture of the system of slavery as it developed in one city over a long period of time.
A book that is well worth a look as a picture of the system of slavery as it developed in one city over a long period of time.