Single, White, Slaveholding Women in the Nineteenth-Century American South

Single, White, Slaveholding Women in the Nineteenth-Century American South
Author :
Publisher : Univ of South Carolina Press
Total Pages : 273
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781611178715
ISBN-13 : 1611178711
Rating : 4/5 (15 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Single, White, Slaveholding Women in the Nineteenth-Century American South by : Marie S. Molloy

Download or read book Single, White, Slaveholding Women in the Nineteenth-Century American South written by Marie S. Molloy and published by Univ of South Carolina Press. This book was released on 2018-07-15 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A broad and eloquent study on the relatively overlooked population of single women in the slaveholding South Single, White, Slaveholding Women in the Nineteenth-Century American South investigates the lives of unmarried white women—from the pre- to the post-Civil War South—within a society that placed high value on women's marriage and motherhood. Marie S. Molloy examines female singleness to incorporate non-marriage, widowhood, separation, and divorce. These single women were not subject to the laws and customs of coverture, in which females were covered or subject to the governance of fathers, brothers, and husbands, and therefore lived with greater autonomy than married women. Molloy contends that the Civil War proved a catalyst for accelerating personal, social, economic, and legal changes for these women. Being a single woman during this time often meant living a nuanced life, operating within a tight framework of traditional gender conventions while manipulating them to greater advantage. Singleness was often a route to autonomy and independence that over time expanded and reshaped traditional ideals of southern womanhood. Molloy delves into these themes and their effects through the lens of the various facets of the female life: femininity, family, work, friendship, law, and property. By examining letters and diaries of more than three hundred white, native-born, southern women, Molloy creates a broad and eloquent study on the relatively overlooked population of single women in both the urban and plantation slaveholding South. She concludes that these women were, in various ways, pioneers and participants of a slow, but definite process of change in the antebellum era.


Single, White, Slaveholding Women in the Nineteenth-Century American South Related Books

Single, White, Slaveholding Women in the Nineteenth-Century American South
Language: en
Pages: 273
Authors: Marie S. Molloy
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2018-07-15 - Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A broad and eloquent study on the relatively overlooked population of single women in the slaveholding South Single, White, Slaveholding Women in the Nineteenth
They Were Her Property
Language: en
Pages: 319
Authors: Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2019-02-19 - Publisher: Yale University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in History: a bold and searing investigation into the role of white women in the American slave economy “Stunning.�
Rethinking Rufus
Language: en
Pages: 193
Authors: Thomas A. Foster
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2019-05-01 - Publisher: University of Georgia Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Rethinking Rufus is the first book-length study of sexual violence against enslaved men. Scholars have extensively documented the widespread sexual exploitation
Liberty, a Better Husband
Language: en
Pages: 304
Authors: Lee Virginia Chambers-Schiller
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 1984 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“For liberty is a better husband than love to many of us.”—Louisa May Alcott This sensitive account focuses on the women who chose to remain single in ant
The Plantation Mistress
Language: en
Pages: 353
Authors: Catherine Clinton
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 1984-02-12 - Publisher: Pantheon

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This pioneering study of the much-mythologized Southern belle offers the first serious look at the lives of white women and their harsh and restricted place in