Them Dark Days Slavery in the American Rice Swamps [Hardcover]

In this groundbreaking book, Dusinberre conducts an intense investigation of slavery in the rice swamps of South Carolina and Georgia. Concentrated there were some of the richest--and most expansive--plantations of the South. It was an unhealthy region for both blacks and whites; slavery, in the swamps, was administered with particular severity. Focusing on three of the largest plantations, Dusinberre presents portraits of individuals, both black and white, who personify and exemplify the harsh realities of the slave system.Them Dark Daysoffers a vivid reconstruction of slavery in action; while it conveys the atmosphere and daily routine of the plantations, it also sets the analysis of slave culture within a wider context of health, discipline, privilege, and psychology.

William Dusinberre has restored a tragic dimension to slave studies, and has done so with a thoroughness and persuasiveness that no future student of slavery will be able to ignore. --The Journal of Southwest Georgia History

There is no other book quite likeThem Dark Days...His scholarship is awesome. Dusinberre has a great deal to say that is fresh and exciting about slavery, and his writing style is always clear and often eloquent...I foundThem Dark Daysboth stimulating and enjoyable. --Charles Joyner, University of South Carolina, Coastal Carolina College

Dusinberre certainly knows how to tell a good story. And if some of his material proves to be familiar to lowcountry scholars, these specialists will nevertheless appreciate his detective work in piecing together a coherent, moving account of the complex negotiations and struggles between tidewater slaves and their masters. --The Journal of Southern History

The book provides a wealth of information on the antebellum lowcountry rice industry and the families that dominated it. --Agricultural History

[The author's] book is an important correctlÓØ