In Reconstruction in the Cane Fields, John C. Rodrigue examines
emancipation and the difficult transition from slavery to free
labor in one enclave of the South -- the cane sugar region of
southern Louisiana. In contrast to the various forms of
sharecropping and tenancy that replaced slavery in the cotton
South, wage labor dominated the sugar industry. Rodrigue
demonstrates that the special geographical and environmental
requirements of sugar production in Louisiana shaped the new labor
arrangements. Ultimately, he argues, the particular demands of
Louisiana sugar production accorded freedmen formidable bargaining
power in the contest with planters over free labor.
Rodrigue addresses many issues pivotal to all post-emancipation
societies: How would labor be reorganized following slavery's
demise? Who would wield decision-making power on the plantation?
How were former slaves to secure the fruits of their own labor? He
finds that while freedmen's working and living conditions in the
postbellum sugar industry resembled the prewar status quo, they did
not reflect a continuation of the powerlessness of slavery.
Instead, freedmen converted their skills and knowledge of sugar
production, their awareness of how easily they could disrupt the
sugar plantation routine, and their political empowerment during
Radical Reconstruction into leverage that they used in disputes
with planters over wages, hours, and labor conditions. Thus, sugar
planters, far from being omnipotent overlords who dictated terms to
workers, were forced to adjust to an emerging labor market as well
as to black political power.
The labor arrangements particular to postbellum sugar
plantations not only propelled the freedmen's political
mobilization during Radical Reconstruction, Rodrigue shows, but
also helped to sustain black political power -- at least for a few
years -- beyond Reconstruction's demise in 1877.
By showing that freedmen, under the proper circumstances, were
willing to consent to wage labor and to work routines that strongly
resembled those of slavery, Reconstruction in the Cane Fields
offers a profound interpretation of how former slaves defined
freedom in slavery's immediate aftermath. It will prove essential
reading for all students of southern, African American,
agricultural, and labor history.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!