Roll, Jordan, roll : the world the slaves made / Eugene D. Genovese.
Title:
Roll, Jordan, roll : the world the slaves made / Eugene D. Genovese.
ISBN:
9780394716527
9781439512463
Personal Author:
Publication Information:
New York : Vintage Books, 1976, 1974.
©1974
Physical Description:
xxii, 823 pages ; 21 cm
Awards Note:
Bancroft Prize, 1975.
Contents:
Bk. I. God is not mocked. pt. 1. Of the willing and the obedient. On paternalism ; Farmers, planters, and overseers ; The hegemonic function of the law ; In the name of humanity and the cause of reform ; Our Black family ; A duty and a burden ; Of concubines and horses ; The moment of truth -- pt. 2. And the children brought up. To the manor born ; De good massa ; Our white folks ; Some valiant soldier here -- Bk. II. The rock and the church. pt. 1. Of the God of the living. The Christian tradition ; Slave religion in hemispheric perspective ; Black conversation and white sensibility ; Let the dead bury the dead ; The white preachers ; Origins of the folk religion ; The gospel in the quarters ; The Black preachers ; Religious foundations of the Black nation -- pt. 2. And every man according as his work shall be. Time and work rhythms ; A "lazy" people ; The Black work ethic -- Bk. III. The valley of the shadow. pt. 1. Of the sons of Jacob. Life in the big house ; The men between ; Men of skill ; Free Negroes ; Miscegenation ; The language of class and nation ; A conclusion and a preface -- pt. 2. And the coat of many colors. The naming of cats ; The myth of the absent family ; Romances of the field ; Broomsticks and orange blossoms ; Husbands and fathers ; Wives and mothers ; The children ; The old folks ; Hearth and home ; Gardens ; Kitchens, high and low ; Clothes make the man and the woman ; Reading, writing, and prospects ; De big times -- Bk. IV. Whom God hath hedged in. The slave revolts ; On resistance ; "Roast pig is a wonderful delicacy, especially when stolen" ; Standing up to the man ; Brothers, sisters, and no-'counts ; "All Negroes are fatalists" ; The runaways ; The bright and morning star -- Appendix : The fate of paternalism in modern bourgeois society : the case of Japan.
Summary:
This landmark history of slavery in the South -- a winner of the Bancroft Prize -- challenged conventional views of slaves by illuminating the many forms of resistance to dehumanization that developed in slave society. Rather than emphasizing the cruelty and degradation of slavery, historian Eugene Genovese investigates the ways that slaves forced their owners to acknowledge their humanity through culture, music, and religion. Not merely passive victims, the slaves in this account actively engaged with the paternalism of slaveholding culture in ways that supported their self-respect and aspirations for freedom. Roll, Jordan, Roll covers a vast range of subjects, from slave weddings and funerals, to the language, food, clothing, and labor of slaves, and places particular emphasis on religion as both a major battleground for psychological control and a paradoxical source of spiritual strength. Displaying keen insight into the minds of both slaves and slaveholders, Roll, Jordan, Roll is a testament to the power of the human spirit under conditions of extreme oppression. - Publisher.
A profound, learned and detailed analysis of Negro slavery. It covers an incredible range of topics and offers fresh insights on nearly every page ... the author's great gift is his ability to penetrate the minds of both slaves and masters, revealing not only how they viewed themselves and each other, but also how they contradictory perceptions interacted.
Electronic Access:
Table of contents onlyPublisher description
Table of contents http://www.gbv.de/dms/bowker/toc/9780394716527.pdf
Table of contents http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0634/75026906-t.html
Publisher description http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/description/random045/75026906.html
OCLC Number:
ocm01602252
Availability:
~0
