Terror in the Heart of Freedom: Citizenship, Sexual Violence, and the Meaning of Race in the Postemancipation South

by Hannah Rosen

Overview

The meaning of race in the antebellum southern United States was anchored in the racial exclusivity of slavery (coded as black) and full citizenship (coded as white as well as male). These traditional definitions of race were radically disrupted after emancipation, when citizenship was granted to all persons born in the United States and suffrage was extended to all men. Hannah Rosen persuasively argues that in this critical moment of Reconstruction, contests over the future meaning of race were often fought on the terrain of gender.

Sexual violence — specifically, white-on-black rape — emerged as a critical arena in postemancipation struggles over African American citizenship. Analyzing the testimony of rape survivors, Rosen finds that white men often staged elaborate attacks meant to enact prior racial hierarchy. Through their testimony, black women defiantly rejected such hierarchy and claimed their new and equal rights. Rosen explains how heated debates over interracial marriage were also attempts by whites to undermine African American men’s demands for suffrage and a voice in public affairs. By connecting histories of rape and discourses of “social equality” with struggles over citizenship, Rosen shows how gendered violence and gendered rhetorics of race together produced a climate of terror for black men and women seeking to exercise their new rights as citizens. Linking political events at the city, state, and regional levels, Rosen places gender and sexual violence at the heart of understanding the reconsolidation of race and racism in the postemancipation United States.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807888568
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	06/01/2009
Series:	Gender and American Culture
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	424
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Hannah Rosen is assistant professor in the Program in American Culture and the Women’s Studies Department at the University of Michigan.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I A City of Refuge: Emancipation in Memphis, 1862-1866

1 City Streets and Other Public Spaces 23

2 A Riot and Massacre 61

Part II A State of Mobilization: Politics in Arkansas, 1865-1868

3 The Capitol and Other Public Spheres 87

4 A Constitutional Convention 133

Part III A Region of Terror: Violence in the South, 1865-1876

5 Houses, Yards, and Other Domestic Domains 179

6 Testifying to Violence 222

Notes 243

Bibliography 355

Acknowledgments 381

Index 385

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Terror in the Heart of Freedom offers a compelling theoretical framework and is filled with first-rate close readings of Reconstruction debates and testimony. It advances our understanding of the connections between politics and gender, political terror and sexual violence, and the politics of slavery and of Reconstruction. It is truly exciting and important work. We need this book.” — Stephen Kantrowitz, University of Wisconsin–Madison

“Terror in the Heart of Freedom is an outstanding book. It places gender and sexuality at the center of the story of emancipation and its aftermath in the decade following the Civil War. No other historian has analyzed the meaning of sexual violence for black women and men and for southern men, black and white, with the depth and breadth offered by Rosen. This book will transform the way American historians teach about Reconstruction and the way women’s historians teach about gender and sexual violence.” — Nancy A. Hewitt, Rutgers University

Editorial Reviews

A provocative and ultimately persuasive account of the symbolic and discursive power of violence to construct meanings of citizenship and political belonging.” — Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

“An admirable job. . . . Invaluable to students of Reconstruction, race, or gender. . . . Highly recommended.” — CHOICE

“Rosen’s accomplishments in this book are impressive and many. Combining solid research with an astute analysis of political rhetoric, her conclusions . . . are persuasive. . . . Of value and interest to the specialist as well as the classroom teacher.” — Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era

“A significant contribution in our understanding of the meaning of gender roles, racial and sexual violence, and citizenship.” — The Alabama Review

“Interesting and sound. . . . Rosen makes a unique contribution.” — Arkansas Historical Quarterly

“An excellent and important book. Rosen has made strong and thought-provoking connections between the politics of citizenship, gender constructions, and sexual violence in the South during Reconstruction. . . . An interesting and powerful work.” — Journal of American Ethnic History

“This book is a must-read for anyone studying Reconstruction. . . . Terror in the Heart of Freedom makes a significant contribution to our understanding of black women’s notions of freedom, virtue, and citizenship.” — American Nineteenth Century History

From the Publisher