Barnes L. Diane - The Old Souths Modern Worlds: Slavery, Region, and Nation in the Age of Progress

The Old Souths Modern Worlds

Slavery, Region, and Nation in the Age of Progress

EDITED BY
L. DIANE BARNES, BRIAN SCHOEN, AND
FRANK TOWERS

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Old Souths modern worlds : slavery, region, and nation in the age of progress / edited by
L. Diane Barnes, Brian Schoen, and Frank Towers.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-538401-7 (hardcover : acid-free paper)ISBN 978-0-19-538402-4
(pbk. : acid-free paper) 1. Southern StatesHistoriography. 2. Southern
StatesHistory17751865Historiography. 3. Southern StatesHistoryStudy
and teaching. 4. SlaverySouthern StatesHistoriography. 5. RegionalismSouthern
StatesHistoriography. I. Barnes, L. Diane. II. Schoen, Brian. III. Towers, Frank.
F208.2.S68 2011
975dc22 2010032534

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2

Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper

Dedicated to
Carol and Dale Schoen, Jewel Spangler, and
Tom and Glenda Mowrey

L. Diane Barnes, Brian Schoen, Frank Towers

Peter S. Onuf

Matthew Mason

Brian Schoen

Larry E. Hudson, Jr.

Steven Deyle

James L. Huston

Frank Towers

William G. Thomas

L. Diane Barnes

Charles F. Irons

Andrew K. Frank

Craig Thompson Friend

Marc Egnal

Edward L. Ayers

Michael OBrien

L. Diane Barnes, Brian Schoen, Frank Towers

While it is true that all historical studies require the cooperation of many individuals, this collection of essays was truly born of a collaborative effort. It began as a panel at the Victorian Association of Western Canadas conference on the Global Victorians in 2006. At that panel the three editors of this book met for the first time and had our papers critiqued by two of the chapter contributors, Larry Hudson and Marc Egnal. Our discussion over the degree to which the Old South was connected to the modern world continued in the student lounge after the panel and led to another panel, which added Diane Sommerville in the commentary role, at the annual meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic at Wooster, Massachusetts, in 2007. From these beginnings our traveling road show generated interest in turning the idea of a modern-connected Old South into a book showcasing newly written essays on standard topics such as cotton and slavery, as well as topics such as planter sexuality and transnational literary influences. We are very grateful to Jane Slusser, our original acquisitions editor at Oxford University Press, for seeing the merits of the collection. We also owe much to Susan Ferber, executive editor at Oxford, for her superb guidance, advice, and, above all, her patience as we moved through the course of putting the book together. During the prepublication process, we benefited from the expert advice of three anonymous readers in the proposal stage and two who read the whole manuscript. We are indebted to these scholars for their comments and especially for the questions that probed us to think deeper about many of the ideas and issues that inform the history of the Old South. These types of collections are beholden to the quality and cooperation of their contributors, and we are eternally grateful to the authors who dedicated their time and talents to this project.

A number of folks read parts of the manuscript, especially the introduction, and we would like to thank Peter Coclanis, Jewel Spangler, and Barbara Hahn for their insights. At each of our respective universities, we benefited from institutional support as well as the camaraderie of many of our colleagues and friends. At Youngstown State University, Diane Barnes received a year-long research professorship that provided some needed release time to write and edit her chapter. She also thanks colleagues Helene Sinnreich and Mehera Gerardo, who read early drafts of sections of the manuscript and provided a needed transnational critique, and Matt Alspaugh, for providing moral support and professional wisdom. Financial support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Calgary supported the first conference where these ideas took shape. Byron Miller at the University of Calgary offered valuable comments on part of the manuscript. At Ohio University, Brian Schoen received travel funds to participate in the road show, and he thanks his colleagues in the history department who offered intellectual and moral support.

Families often bear the brunt of time-consuming endeavors like this one. Frank Towers relied on the feedback, support, and sanity of Jewel Spangler. Diane Barnes particularly acknowledges the love and support of Ben Barnes, who rarely complained about the many hours she spent on this project. In the Schoen household, Brian thanks Kelli, Julia, and Annelise, who complied with timelines by waiting to be born after the preliminary manuscript went to readers.

Edward L. Ayers is president and professor of history at the University of Richmond. He is the author of The Promise of the New South: Life after Reconstruction (1992), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and In the Presence of Mine Enemies: Civil War in the Heart of America (2003), which won the Bancroft Prize and the Beveridge Prize.

L. Diane Barnes is associate professor of history at Youngstown State University and associate editor of the Frederick Douglass Papers. She is the author of Artisan Workers in the Upper South: Petersburg, Virginia, 18201865 (2008) and numerous chapters and articles. She is also editor of Ohio History.

Steven Deyle is associate professor of history at the University of Houston. He is the author of Carry Me Back: The Domestic Slave Trade in American Life (2005) and numerous articles on slavery in the American South.

Marc Egnal is professor of history at York University and author of numerous books on American history. His latest titles include