Nat Turner's name rings through American history with a force all its own. Leader of the most important slave rebellion on these shores, variously viewed as a murderer of unarmed women and children, an inspired religious leader, a fanatic--this puzzling figure represents all the terrible complexities of American slavery. And yet we do not know what he looked like, where he is buried, or even whether Nat Turner was his real name. In Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory, Kenneth S. Greenberg gathers twelve distinguished scholars to offer provocative new insight into the man,...
Nat Turner's name rings through American history with a force all its own. Leader of the most important slave rebellion on these shores, variously vie...
The "honorable men" who ruled the Old South had a language all their own, one comprised of many apparently outlandish features yet revealing much about the lives of masters and the nature of slavery. When we examine Jefferson Davis's explanation as to why he was wearing women's clothing when caught by Union soldiers, or when we consider the story of Virginian statesman John Randolph, who stood on his doorstep declaring to an unwanted dinner guest that he was "not at home," we see that conveying empirical truths was not the goal of their speech. Kenneth Greenberg so skillfully demonstrates,...
The "honorable men" who ruled the Old South had a language all their own, one comprised of many apparently outlandish features yet revealing much a...
"Masters and Statesmen" delineates a provocative set of parallels between the proslavery argument, concepts of political representation, dueling, the theory and practice of political parties, and secession in the American South. "Slavery in the antebellum South", Kenneth Greenberg writes, "was intimately connected to a distinct set of political values and practices. Ultimately these... helped shape the form and content of conflict with the North." To assert their honor and their power, Southerners rose up against the Union; secession came to be seen, paradoxically, as the only way for the...
"Masters and Statesmen" delineates a provocative set of parallels between the proslavery argument, concepts of political representation, dueling, the ...
