Becoming Southern: The Evolution of a Way of Life, Warren County and Vicksburg, Mississippi, 1770-1860

by Christopher Morris

Overview

Mississippi represented the Old South and all that it stood for—perhaps more so than any other state. Tracing its long histories of economic, social, and cultural evolution, Morris takes a close and richly detailed look at a representative Southern community: Jefferson Davis's Warren County, in the state's southwestern corner. Drawing on many wills, deeds, court records, and manuscript materials, he reveals the transformation of a loosely knit, typically Western community of pioneer homesteaders into a distinctly Southern society based on plantation agriculture, slavery, and a patriarchal social order.

"This thoughtful, well-written study doubtless will be widely read and deservedly influential."—American Historical Review.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195083668
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/04/1995
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.32(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	1420L (what's this?)

About the Author

Christopher Morris is Associate Professor of History at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Evolution of Old South Civilization1. Pioneers of the Loosa Chitto2. Economic Transformation and the Rise of the Planters' World3. Relations Within the Households: White Families4. Households Within Households: Masters and Slaves5. Brothers and Neighbors: The Politics of Patriarchy6. Hamlets and Towns: The Urban Process7. A Place Apart from the Countryside: The City of Vicksburg8. Organizing a County Community: Neighborhoods, Parties, and the Politics of Development9. A Cotton County Comes of Age10. An End and a Beginning

Editorial Reviews

"In Becoming Southern Christopher Morris has produced an excellent example of the 'new local history.'...he inevitably engages many historiographical issues that have dominated studies of the South for the past thirty years....[T]his book is full of creative insights and manages to synthesize a variety of parts into a convincing portrait of a society and its people in the midst of change."—Georgia Historical Quarterly

"This is a noteworthy book."—Journal of American History

"This thoughtful, well-written study doubtless will be widely read and deservedly influential."—American Historical Review

"Morris's research is prodigious, his presentation captivating."—New Orleans Review

"This is a fascinating and illuminating book."—Canadian Journal of History

"Makes good use of a wide range of local records...[G]racefully address the big questions of southern history."—The Journal of Southern History

"Morris uses an impressive array of primary and secondary sources to fashion a holistic, ethnohistorical, and anthropologically informed study that deals with the environmental setting, the economic adaptations, the social structures, the political struggles, and the emerging ideologies of a single community during nine decades of southern history."—Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"Becoming Southern provides a coherent and illuminating...analysis of the patterns of economic, political, and social evolution in one antebellum county."—Mississippi Quarterly

"In presenting his story of community formation, Morris introduces a number of thought-provoking ideas that often challenge conventional wisdom about slavery and the role of kin and family in southern life....There can be no question but that Morris's study is among the best on southern distinctiveness and community scholarship."—Southern Cultures

"This fine study...makes an important contribution....Morris's study sheds considerable light on issues of regional significance by careful examination of a specific locale."—History

"A worthy addition to the literature on the antebellum South. The book demonstrates how local social conditions influenced economic arrangements, political culture, and daily life, and Morris reminds scholars again that the Old South was neither monolithic nor static. For understanding Southern culture, Morris tells us in his introduction, 'the little community is a worthwhile place to start'. He has proved his point well."—Alabama Review

"Christopher Morris displays the enviable ability to combine analytical sophistication and detailed analysis of local sources with a strong narrative and appropriate generalisations...[A] valuable source for students of all aspects of antebellum southern life."—American Studies Today

From the Publisher