In my Father's House Are Many Mansions

Description:

Burton traces the evolution of Edgefield County from the antebellum period through Reconstruction and beyond. From amassed information on every household in this large rural community, he tests the many generalizations about southern black and white families of this period and finds that they were strikingly similar. Wealth, rather than race or class, was the main factor that influenced family structure, and the matriarchal family was but a myth. This detailed treatment of the economics, patterns, and rhythms of rural life, including analyses of religion and religious themes in the agrarian community, will advance our understanding of rural history and race relations in the South.

subjects: History,  Social conditions,  Rural conditions,  Race relations,  Family,  South carolina, genealogy,  South carolina, history,  Southern states, civilization,  Families,  Slaves,  Slaveholders,  Freedmen,  Women slaves,  Emancipation,  Dwellings

Places: Edgefield (S.C.),  South Carolina,  Edgefield

Times: 19th century