To Have and to Hold: Slave Work and Family Life in Antebellum South Carolina

264 Pages·1997·13.607 MB·English

by  Larry E. Hudson Jr.

To Have and to Hold
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Larry E. Hudson Jr.
To Have and to Hold
SLAVE WORK AND FAMILY LIFE IN
ANTEBELLUM SOUTH CAROLINA
THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA PRESS
ATHENS AND LONDON
© 1997 by the University of Georgia Press
Athens, Georgia 30602
All rights reserved
Designed by Betty Palmer McDaniel
Set in 10/14 Janson Text by G&S Typesetters, Inc.
Printed and bound by Braun-Brumfield, Inc.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for
permanence and durability of the Committee on
Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the
Council on Library Resources.
Printed in the United States of America
01 oo 99 98 97 c 5 4 3 21
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Hudson, Larry E., Jr., 1952-
To have and to hold : slave work and family life
in antebellum South Carolina / Larry E. Hudson, Jr.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8203-1830-2 (alk. paper)
i. Slaves—South Carolina—Social conditions.
2. Slaves—South Carolina—Family relationships.
3. Plantation life—South Carolina—History—i9th century.
4. South Carolina—History—1775-1865.
I. Title.
445-S7H83 *997
3O5.5'67'o9757—dc2o 96-13711
British Library Cataloging in Publication Data available
In loving memory of Dorothy
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The work of the day being over, I sat down upon my
doorstep, pipe in hand, to rest awhile in
the cool of the evening.
—To Have and to Hold by Mary Johnston
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Contents
List of Genealogical Charts xi
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction xix
ONE
For Better for Worse: The Slaves' World of Work i
TWO
For Richer for Poorer: The Family as an Economic Unit 3 2
THREE
In Sickness and in Health: Disease, Death, and Family Disruption 79
FOUR
To Love and to Cherish: The Slave Family 141
CONCLUSION
To Have and to Hold 177
Notes 185
Bibliography 219
Index 235