The Making of the American South A Short History, 1500-1877

This concise overview of the history and historiography of the American South puts the major problems and issues of that region into clear, accessible prose. It focuses on the earliest days of the Old South, up to the Reconstruction, concentrating on the topics that are of most concern to historians. Issues such as slavery, race relations, and the Civil War are all thoroughly explored, with both popular and scholarly arguments presented. Beginning with the development of European outposts in the 16th Century, the book examines the Southern colonies, the Revolutionary War, and the road to the Civil War with great authority and in highly readable language. Threaded in the survey material are explorations of themes and topics that lie at the heart of the Southern way of life: its economy, paternalism, politics, and the role of slavery. This is an ideal textbook for students learning about the development of the American South, as well as general readers interested in U.S. history.

J. William Harris is Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire. He is the author of Plain Folk and Gentry in a Slave Society (1995) and Deep Souths: Delta, Piedmont, and Sea Island Society in the Age of Segregation (2001).