Title Black Charlestonians : a social history, 1822-1885 / Bernard E. Powers, Jr

Published Fayetteville, AR : University Of Arkansas Press, 1994 ©1994

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Description 1 online resource (xi, 377 pages) : illustrations Series Black Community Studies Black community studies. Contents Slavery in antebellum Charleston -- Free black life in antebellum and Civil War Charleston -- "An earnest assertion of manhood" -- The search for economic security -- "The great work before us" -- Class, status, and social life in the black community -- "Behold a new Zion" -- "An equal chance in the race of life." Summary This revisionist work delineates the major social and economic contours of the large black population in the pivotal Southern city of Charleston, S.C., historical seaport center for the slave trade. The work draws upon census data, manuscript collections, and newspaper accounts to expand our knowledge of this particular community of nineteenth-century black urbanites. Although the federal government codified the rights of African-Americans into law following the Civil War, it was the initiatives taken by black men and women that actually transformed the theoretical benefits of emancipation into clear achievement Because of its large free black population, Charleston provided a case study of black social-class stratification and social mobility even before the war. Reconstruction only emphasized that stratification, and Powers examines in detail the aspirations and concessions that shaped the lives of the newly freed blacks - led by a black upper class that sometimes seemed more inclined to emulate white social mores than act as a vanguard for fundamental social change. Unlike most Reconstruction studies, which concentrate on politics, Black Charlestonians explores the era's vital socioeconomic challenges for blacks as they emerged into full citizenship in an important city in the South Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL digitized 2011 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL Subject African Americans -- South Carolina -- Charleston -- History -- 19th century HISTORY -- United States -- State & Local -- South (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV) SOCIAL SCIENCE -- General. African Americans Blacks -- South Carolina. Zwarten. SUBJECT Charleston (S.C.) -- History. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85022686 Subject South Carolina -- Charleston United States, South Carolina, Charleston, Charleston -- Minorities. United States, South Carolina, Charleston, Charleston -- History -- 19th century. United States, South Carolina, Charleston, Charleston -- Social life and customs. USA -- Südstaaten Schwärze Charleston (S.C.) Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9781610750707 1610750705

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