"Forret... has deepened our understanding of the complexity of
relations between slaves and poor whites." -- Georgia Historical
Quarterly
Covering a broad geographic scope from Virginia to South
Carolina between 1820 and 1860, Jeff Forret scrutinizes relations
among rural poor whites and slaves, a subject previously unexplored
and certainly under-reported. Forret's findings challenge
historians' long-held assumption that mutual violence and animosity
characterized the two groups' interactions; he reveals that while
poor whites and slaves sometimes experienced bouts of hostility,
often they worked or played in harmony and camaraderie. Race
Relations at the Margins is remarkable for its focus on lower-class
whites and their dealings with slaves outside the purview of the
master. Race and class, Forret demonstrates, intersected in unique
ways for those at the margins of southern society, challenging the
belief that race created a social cohesion among whites regardless
of economic status.
As Forret makes apparent, colonial-era flexibility in race
relations never entirely disappeared despite the
institutionalization of slavery and the growing rigidity of color
lines. His book offers a complex and nuanced picture of the shadowy
world of slave--poor white interactions, demanding a refined
understanding and new appreciation of the range of interracial
associations in the Old South.
"A useful addition to a growing literature on nonelite
southerners in plantation societies." -- Journal of Social
History
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