James Hugo Johnston - Race relations in Virginia & miscegenation in the South, 1776-1860
Here you can read online James Hugo Johnston - Race relations in Virginia & miscegenation in the South, 1776-1860 full text of the book (entire story) in english for free. Download pdf and epub, get meaning, cover and reviews about this ebook. year: 1970, publisher: Univ of Massachusetts Press, genre: Science. Description of the work, (preface) as well as reviews are available. Best literature library LitArk.com created for fans of good reading and offers a wide selection of genres:
Choose a favorite category and find really read worthwhile books. Enjoy immersion in the world of imagination, feel the emotions of the characters or learn something new for yourself, make an fascinating discovery.
Book:
Race relations in Virginia & miscegenation in the South, 1776-1860
Race relations in Virginia & miscegenation in the South, 1776-1860: summary, description and annotation
We offer to read an annotation, description, summary or preface (depends on what the author of the book "Race relations in Virginia & miscegenation in the South, 1776-1860" wrote himself). If you haven't found the necessary information about the book — write in the comments, we will try to find it.
James Hugo Johnston: author's other books
Who wrote Race relations in Virginia & miscegenation in the South, 1776-1860? Find out the surname, the name of the author of the book and a list of all author's works by series.
Race relations in Virginia & miscegenation in the South, 1776-1860 — read online for free the complete book (whole text) full work
Below is the text of the book, divided by pages. System saving the place of the last page read, allows you to conveniently read the book "Race relations in Virginia & miscegenation in the South, 1776-1860" online for free, without having to search again every time where you left off. Put a bookmark, and you can go to the page where you finished reading at any time.
Race Relations in Virginia & Miscegenation in the South, 1776-1860
author
:
Johnston, James Hugo.
publisher
:
University of Massachusetts Press
isbn10 | asin
:
0870230506
print isbn13
:
9780870230509
ebook isbn13
:
9780585186924
language
:
English
subject
Virginia--Race relations, African Americans--Virginia, Miscegenation--Southern States.
publication date
:
1970
lcc
:
E185.93.V8J6 1970eb
ddc
:
301.451/96/0755
subject
:
Virginia--Race relations, African Americans--Virginia, Miscegenation--Southern States.
Page iii
Race Relations in Virginia & Miscegenation in the South 17761860
James Hugo Johnston
Foreword by Winthrop Jordan
The University of Massachusetts Press Amherst 1970
Page iv
Copyright 1970 by the University of Massachusetts Press All rights reserved
Standard Book Number 87023-050-6 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 78-87833
Set in Baskerville and Bulmer types and printed in the United States of America by Kingsport Press, Inc. Designed by Richard Hendel
Page v
FOREWORD
In 1937, when James Hugo Johnston completed the University of Chicago doctoral dissertation which is here published in substantially its original form, it was both less fashionable and less feasible than it is now to publish one's dissertation. There would be little purpose in resurrecting most such older dissertations. Yet it seems to me that Race Relations in Virginia and Miscegenation in the South constitutes a clear exception, and I am delighted that the University of Massachusetts Press has undertaken to make this work more widely available.
Professor Johnston completed this study at a time when Negro historynow black historywas not, to put the matter as gently as possible, a widely popular topic. He was fortunate to be able to approach his topic in an atmosphere largely free of the tensions now affecting everyoneblack and whitewriting on the history of race relations. Some readers today will find his discussion of relations between the races too genial, too gentle, and lacking in appropriate moral outrage. Without in any way denying the legitimacy of that outrage, I would point to the advantages which derive, in part, from composition in the emotionally neutral key. Professor Johnston was able to shun such all-encompassing, generalizing images as the "Benevolent Massa," the "Fawning Sambo," the "Rapacious Oppressor,'' and the "Vigilant Revolutionary." Relations between the races during slavery times were far more varied and complicated than this, as Johnston's approach and his factual material make abundantly clear. The point needs emphasis: race relations in Vir-
Page vi
ginia were characterized by variety and complexity, and historical accounts and meditations which ignore these factors run contrary to the facts.
It is precisely the attention to and respect for the "facts" which give this study its special value. Professor Johnston examined thoroughly one of the bestand still least exploitedcollections of manuscript materials pertaining to slavery: the petitions of ordinary citizens to the Virginia governors and legislatures from the late eighteenth century to the Civil War. What seems to me especially valuable at this stage in the development of black history is that Professor Johnston has included extensive quotations from these materials, long paragraphs which convey in rich detail the tone of human relationships. The book affords a good introduction to historical source materials which ought to be further examined for the light they can shed upon slave life in Virginia.
In his treatment of miscegenation, Professor Johnston again demonstrates the complexities of what needs to be regarded as a centrally important aspect of race relations. He makes clear that sexual relations did not uniformly involve white men and black women and that sometimes genuine affection was felt by both parties. He details relationships ranging from lifetime attachments to the better known instances of outright rape of helpless female slaves. There is dramatic tragedy inherent in so many of these instances of our past which Professor Johnston has dredged to the surface: as, for example, in the trial of Peggy and Patrick, two slaves who killed her master because he had "generally kept her confined, by keeping her chained to a block, and locked up in his meathouse" and who had threatened that he "would beat her almost to death, that he would barely leave the life in her, and would send her to New Orleans" unless she "consented to intercourse with him." Peggy was her master's daughter. Professor Johnston does not editorialize upon this incident; evidently he felt that the circumstances themselves were sufficient commentary upon the slave system. What he has provided in the second half of this book is a unique compilation of details concerning the hidden world of interracial sex. He has even uncovered solid evidence of "passing," that silent phenomenon which speaks so eloquently as to how tragicand how silly
Page vii
America's race relations have always been. He knows, as the reader should also, that the details he has uncovered constitute merely a visible portion of the iceberg of actual events.
In commending this book I ought to state frankly two reservations. Professor Johnston states that the first Negroes to arrive in Virginia were treated as servants, not slaves. Many other historians have made the same assertion, without adequate evidence. We simply lack the information necessary to determine whether those first Africans were slaves or servants. On the crucial early years of race relations in America there is very little information available, and in all probability no more is going to be uncovered.
Secondly and more generally, Professor Johnston discusses the persistence of slavery in terms of "the universal and characteristic control of economic forces over moral forces in the determination of human action" and he suggests that "many analogies may be found between the relation of the master and slave and the relation between the propertied class and the poor." Fair enough. These formulations are probably correct, but they omit precisely the dimension upon which this book is focussed. It was
Similar books «Race relations in Virginia & miscegenation in the South, 1776-1860»
Look at similar books to Race relations in Virginia & miscegenation in the South, 1776-1860. We have selected literature similar in name and meaning in the hope of providing readers with more options to find new, interesting, not yet read works.
Reviews about «Race relations in Virginia & miscegenation in the South, 1776-1860»
Discussion, reviews of the book Race relations in Virginia & miscegenation in the South, 1776-1860 and just readers' own opinions. Leave your comments, write what you think about the work, its meaning or the main characters. Specify what exactly you liked and what you didn't like, and why you think so.
