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After the Civil War, the South faced a problem that was almost entirely new in the United States: a racially diverse and geographically integrated citizenry. In one fell swoop with emancipation, millions of former slaves were now citizens. The old system of plantation localism, built largely on the feudal control of the black population by wealthy white planters, was no longer viable. The urgent question facing both those who sought to reform and those who sought to preserve the "Old South" was: What should local government look like after emancipation? This Article tells the story of the struggle over the answer to that question. At the center of that struggle is an untold legal history of local government reform during Reconstruction. In the years immediately after the Civil War, idealistic Yankee reformers went south with the explicit aim of remaking the "fabric of southern culture" by rebuilding the South in the image of their northern homes. Specifically, in North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina, these reformers rewrote state constitutions to replace the plantation and county court with townships modeled on the New England town. Southern conservatives resisted the new townships, understanding them as foreign impositions targeted to destroy their old way of life. Within a decade they had dismantled the new townships and built the foundations of a new Jim Crow local order rooted in the county and approximating a return to the plantation. By telling this new history, this Article contributes to present scholarship in at least two ways. First, the story highlights a binary struggle between "communitarian" localism embodied in the civic participation of the New England town and "proprietary" localism embodied in the private power of the plantation owner. This struggle was framed with crystal clarity during Reconstruction, but it remains a powerful analytic tool for understanding today's debates and struggles over local government. Second and relatedly, this history reveals the extent to which racial anxiety shaped and continues to shape local institutions. The communitarian township experiment was fueled by a vision of racial equality--and the white supremacist response to it was fueled by resentment and resistance to that vision. When we think about localism and racial inequality, we tend to think about the responses to school desegregation in the mid-twentieth century when racial resentment and fear during the "Second Reconstruction" drove white flight and contributed to resegregation through suburbanization. This Article shows that we may be looking at the wrong Reconstruction. In fact, the pathologies of local government, racial segregation, democracy, and protection of property were framed after the Civil War, in the crucible of a direct conflict between utopian racial egalitarianism and white supremacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the important role played by U.S. author William Faulkner in the formalization of both U.S. literary studies and southern literary studies. Topics discussed include the application of southern studies as area studies under a nationalistic project during the Cold War. Also discussed are the origins of modern southern literature as an academic discipline and Faulkner's prominence in the literary criticism "Southern Renascence: The Literature of the Modern South" in 1953.

Although it can seem paradoxical today that the federal government redistributes from "blue" states where majorities are tolerant of federal taxation to "red" states where they are hostile, the rhetoric was more straightforward in the politics surrounding the adoption of the Sixteenth Amendment a century ago. In fact, Southerners and Westerners demanded the adoption of the federal income tax for the obvious reason that it would benefit their constituents. By exempting income taxation from the apportionment rule that the Constitution specifies for "direct taxes," the Sixteenth Amendment allowed Congress to tax in proportion to the distribution of income rather than the distribution of population. Because of the lopsided geographical distribution of income at the time, this procedure generated lopsided contributions from the high-income states of the Northeast, particularly New York. Yet some Southerners also thought the income tax was potentially dangerous because it would strengthen the federal government, with results that could potentially threaten their oppression of African Americans (disfranchisement, segregation, and rampant lynching). White Southerners worried about the safety of white supremacy in their debates with each other about whether to ratify the Sixteenth Amendment. In the end, however, they ratified enthusiastically, not only because they knew that their states would benefit, but also because they believed, correctly, that Northerners had lost interest in attempting to protect the rights of African Americans. Thus, this milestone in the history of taxation exemplified the irony of the Progressive Era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the effect of social and cultural conditions in the U.S. South and West in the 1960s and 1970s on the popularity of country-rock music groups such as the Eagles. U.S. popular culture, regional trends in music, and music critics such as Reebee Garofalo are mentioned, as well as the political influences and Western literature on country music. Eagles albums such as "Desperado" and "One of These Nights" are also mentioned.

Despite growing reliance on census data for historical research in the United States, there has been little systematic evaluation of census quality. This article relies on back-projection methods, new estimates of nineteenth-century mortality, and the 1850-1940 Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) samples to estimate age- and sex-specific net census underenumeration of the native-born white population in the United States in the 1850-1930 censuses. National and section of birth estimates are constructed. In general, the results suggest slightly higher net undercounts for native-born white males relative to native-born white females, slightly higher net undercounts in the South, and a modest trend toward greater census coverage over time. A few censuses stand out as anomalous. The 1870 census suffered a higher net rate of omission than any other census. The net undercount was especially high in the South, probably reflecting the unsettled conditions in the aftermath of the American Civil War. The net undercount was not nearly as great as nineteenth-century observers speculated and subsequent historians have long believed, however. The 1880 census appears to have achieved the most complete coverage of the native-born white population before 1940. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the history of the concubinage of enslaved black women in the U.S. Southern States. Topics include sexual assaults against enslaved women, the social and economic significance of lighter skin color among slaves of mixed race, and domestic labor performed by concubines. Also addressed are the reactions of white wives to the practice of concubinage, the relation of adultery to laws against interracial marriage, and violent acts committed against slaves who refused to engage in sexual relations with their masters.

The author responds to criticism of an article he wrote in the journal from several scholars concerning the influence of regionalism on U.S. foreign policy. He comments on suggestions for further research in areas such as U.S. Southern states and U.S. foreign relations, the concept of honor in the creation of support for U.S. military intervention among the citizenry of U.S. Southern states, and whether former U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson should be viewed as a Texan or a southerner. The author states that the criticisms he received would inform his scholarship on the U.S. Southern states during the Vietnam War.

Place matters in how Americans and their political representative have responded to U.S foreign relations. Domestic regionalism has exercised a persistent and at times primary influence on the formulation of U.S. foreign policy. Through a selective historiographical review of the literature addressing New England, the Midwest, and the South, this article urges scholars to recognize this important domestic influence on policy formation-an influence that affords the opportunity to assess ideological, racial, religious, economic, and political considerations in a useful collective fashion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses U.S. Southern states and U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War. It examines the political leadership of Southern states following World War II, particularly South Carolina politician Strom Thurmond, support for the U.S. military and anti-Communist foreign policy in the South, and the cultural, economic, and political transformation associated with the Savannah River Plant (SRP) in South Carolina established by the chemical company known as the DuPont Corporation and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC).

The author responds to an article in the journal by scholar Joseph A. Fry on the topic of regionalism in U.S. foreign policy. According to the article, Fry examined the U.S. Midwest's isolationist tendencies during the late 19th century and the early 20th century and the U.S. South's militarism and its relationship to the support of continental expansion and foreign wars that attempted to spread American political and societal values. The author states that Fry did not explore underlying questions concerning the necessity of regionalism as a historical study, and points to the differences of the South as a region in different parts of the 19th century.

The author discusses the concept of place in U.S. diplomatic history. He examines an article published in the journal by scholar Joseph A. "Andy" Fry entitled "Place Matters," refers to his own scholarship on the significance of former U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson's roots in Texas to Johnson's policies during the Vietnam War, and examines place as an ideological notion. The article also discusses the shifting conceptions and definitions of place in the U.S. The article alludes to regionalism in the U.S., particularly the isolationism of the U.S. Midwest in the 20th century, the U.S. South's support for the Vietnam War, and support for the Federalists in New England in the late 18th century. The author compares Fry's article in the journal to a Jewish dish known as stuffed derma.

African Americans had access to only a small number of state parks in the Jim Crow South. Between the end of World War II and the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, however, state park officials oversaw a relative expansion in the construction of facilities available to southern blacks. Emphasizing developments leading up to that landmark court ruling, I note that this trend did not indicate waning support for segregation among whites. Rather, this relative expansion was part of a strategy to protect Jim Crow by demonstrating that the 'separate-but-equal' principle was being successfully achieved by southern park agencies. This intensified construction was largely a reaction to increasingly successful legal action in federal courts by the naacp generally; and officials in the state agencies hoped-unsuccessfully-to avoid challenges to state park segregation. After the Brown decision, several border states integrated their park systems, but most agencies displayed the reactionary defiance that characterized most white Southerners as the civil rights movement grew. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the emigration of the Manning family, originally of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, to various southern states beginning in 1797. It traces the migration of Benjamin Manning II and his descendants. The article argues that the Manning family's migration patterns symbolized the importance of kinship and the settlement of territories outside of the original U.S. colonies. The article examines the Manning family's movements from central Georgia to east Texas as well as the social and economic aspects of westward migration toward the cotton region frontier. It also discusses Benjamin Manning's self-image as a patriarch in the tradition of those found in Hebrew scriptures.

A bibliography on the subject of U.S. Southern history is presented which includes the articles "It Was a Thing Whose Time Had Come" by Kelly E. Crager, "The Great Ransom Train Wreck of 1905" by James Rada Jr., and "School Kids and Oil Rigs: Two More Pieces of the Post-Katrina Puzzle" by Kelly Frailing and Dee Wood Harper Jr.

Information about several topics discussed at the annual meeting of the U.S. Southern Historical Association held in Charlotte, North Carolina in early 2011 is presented. Topics included the U.S. secession crisis of 1860 and 1861, the history of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the book "General Lee's Army: From Victory to Collapse" by Joseph T. Glatthaar. The conference featured historians including Daniel E. Sutherland, Heather Ann Thompson, and William J. Cooper, Jr.

A bibliography on the subject of the history Georgia and the U.S. South is presented which includes the books "The Hanging of Thomas Jeremiah: A Free Black Man's Encounter with Liberty," by William J. Harris, "Blue and Gray Diplomacy: A History of Union and Confederate Relations," by Howard Jones, and "Seminole Voices: Reflections on Their Changing Society, 1970-2000," by Julian M. Pleasants and Harry A. Kersey, Jr.

The article presents news briefs pertaining to Southern U.S. history. The 76th annual meeting of the Southern Historical Association will be in Charlotte, North Carolina on November 4 through 7, 2010. The Southern American Studies Association (SASA) has announced its 2011 conference, to be held February 17-19, 2011 at Georgia State University. The book "U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth," by Joan Waugh has won the Jefferson Davis Award.

An essay is presented which examines the history of the Southern Historical Association. The role of the professionalization of historians and the Southern Renaissance intellectual movement in the organization's formation is examined and the influence of the Great Depression on the organization's creation is explored. The association's membership policy and the continued relevance of the study of Southern U.S. history are also discussed.

The article offers information on the membership of and activities related to the Texas State Historical Association. The appointment of Dianne Powell as Association president is noted along with the addition of seven members to the Board of Directors including Carlos Blanton, Stephen C. Cook, and Rebecca Sharpless. The Texas Archeological Society is soliciting papers for its meeting "Archeology Without Borders" in Corpus Christi, Texas from October 22-24, 2010. The Southern American Studies Association will hold the conference "Peoples, Publics, and Places of the Souths" at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia from February 17-19, 2011.

The article presents several news briefs concerning libraries and archives relating to Southern U.S. history. The Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center at the University of Oklahoma is soliciting applicants for its Visiting Scholars program. The Georgia Historical Society announces the acquisition of several archival collections including photographs, architectural drawings, and genealogy files.

Information regarding the 2009 annual meeting of the Southern Historical Association held in Louisville, Kentucky is presented. Particular focus is given to the death of Jack Temple Kirby, the president of the organization. Awards presented during the meeting, outreach initiatives undertaken by the organization, and membership statistics are presented. Information concerning the 2010 meeting is also included.

A bibliography of scholarly articles concerning Southern U.S. history is presented which includes the articles "John Brown, Terrorist?" by Nicole Etcheson in the March 2009 issue of "American Nineteenth Century History," "The Lost Decade of Civil Rights," by David L. Chappell in the April 2009 issue of "Historically Speaking," and "Slavery, Slaves, and Cash in a Georgia Village, 1825-1865," by David E. Paterson in the November 2009 issue of the "Journal of Southern History."

A bibliography of books received by the journal for review as of March 2010 is presented, including "The Search for Mabila: The Decisive Battle Between Hernando de Soto and Chief Tascalusa," edited by Vernon James Knight, Jr., "South Carolina 1775: A Crucible Year," by Edmund A. Bator, and "Born Southern: Childbirth, Motherhood and Social Networks in the Old South," by V. Lynn Kennedy.

The article presents news briefs related to the history of Arkansas. The Arkansas Historical Association (AHA) will hold its 69th annual conference at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas from April 15-17, 2010. The AHA has established a family membership category for 2010. The Arkansas Women's History Institute announced the Susie Pryor Arkansas Women's History competition for 2010.

The article discusses the controversy over history textbooks and the teaching of history to children in Virginia during the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s. Civil War "Lost Cause" historiography, seen as underpinning 20th-century Southern racist attitudes and policies of segregation, is discussed, as is the support of commentators such as newspaper columnist Benjamin Muse for updated textbooks that offered a more balanced presentation of history. The textbook debate is also discussed from the perspective of Virginia state politics.

An essay is presented discussing the nature of southern history studies as a field defined by social, cultural, and political dynamics rather than a geography limited to the Southern U.S. States. It is argued that conceptions of the South and its history should not be separated from the rest of the country and that issues such as slavery were embedded in the governing structure of the nation. The prominent positions southern historians have held in the Organization of American Historians is examined.

An essay is presented discussing the keynote essay published in this issue titled “Southern History as U.S. History” by Laura F. Edwards and explores how historians have reconceptualized southern history by placing it in the broader context. Particular attention is paid to the practice of contextualizing the South through comparisons with the North. Studying the South from a New World perspective in regard to economic growth, "transracial" definitions of citizenship, and slave resistance is discussed.

A list of books received by the journal for review is presented, including "King: The Social Anthropology of a Late Mississippian Town in Northwestern Georgia" by David J. Hally, "About the Excellence of the Georgian English Colony in Comparison with Other Colonies" by Johannes Agustus Urlsperg, "Religion and Profit: Moravians in Early America" by Katherine Carté Engel, and many others.

The article provides several announcements related to southern U.S. historical committees, symposiums, and associations, which include the nomination of William J. Cooper for vice-president/president-elect of the editorial committee for the journal, a bicentennial celebration of the birth of former U.S. president Andrew Johnson at Tusculum College, and the establishment of the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) at the University of North Texas.

Articles published in the field of southern U.S. history in 2007 are presented, including "A Light on the Hill: Georgia Southern University, 1906-2006," by Delma E. Presley, "Lincoln and Colonization," by Richard Blackett, and "Changing Perspectives on Lincoln, Race, and Slavery," by Brian Dirck.

This article looks at the status of the history of massive racial discrimination and slavery in the southern region of the U.S. Ralph Ellison states that the country is facing a great crisis in American history and he mentions the statement during the meeting of the Southern Historical Association in 1968. In addition, Ellison mentions that the American history could not be found and derived in history books but also to the oral traditions which are preserved by the African Americans, whose ancestors have suffered slavery and discrimination.

The article announces the 74th annual meeting of the Southern Historical Association to be held in New Orleans, Louisiana on October 10-12, 2008.

This article discusses the history of two Spanish expeditions that almost united the eastern and western southern states of what is now the United States. The author describes an expedition led by Fancisco Vázquez de Coronado into present-day New Mexico and another by Hernando de Soto from present-day Florida up the Mississippi River. The author states that an Indian slave women who escaped from the former party was picked up by the latter explorer, providing a link between the two expeditions.

The author explores the history of slavery in the Creek tribes. The Creek's lived in modern day Georgia, northern Florida and Alabama starting around the year 1000. The Creek tribe traditionally enslaved others captured in battle, but this ownership was not inherited by their offspring. The Creek's also sold captives to Americans or to British middlemen. The Creek's practices of slavery changed with the times.

The article discusses the use of the legal system by newly freed slaves after the American Civil War. The author points out that during the beginning of the Reconstruction period, former slaves made prompt use of the legal system in gaining rights and freedoms. The author points out that many other rural areas avoid the capricious of courts in favor of alternate "conflict resolution." She explores the variety of data in both the Antebellum South, as well as post Civil War to attempt to explain the reasons behind such a phenomena.

This article explores the 1966-1975 anti-war movement against the Vietnam War in America's southern states, particularly in Louisville, Kentucky. Topics of discussion include southern hostility towards pacifists, notorious anti-war figure and boxer Muhammad Ali, civil-rights advocate and fellow anti-war figure George Edwards—who advised conscientious objectors—and the marriage of anti-war sentiment and civil rights issues.

This article examines the experiences and impact of Japanese Americans in America's segregated southern states amid anti-Japanese sentiment during World War II. The presence of the Japanese Americans added a touch of gray to a firm black and white line of segregation binding the southern states together. Particular focus is given to the ramifications of two Japanese American internment camps that were hosted in the state of Arkansas.

This article examines the networking of military educators and their alumni prior to the American Civil War. Often middle-class students graduating from a southern military academy, such as Robert Henry Simpson who is discussed in the article, have to refer back to their school to attain a degree of social status if they lack the agricultural inheritance, apprenticeship, or elitism of other young southern professionals. These academies were also seen as a reflection of a modernized South.

This article explores the history and civil rights of the African American farmer in America's southern states. As their numbers declined and their plight increased, their situation was often overshadowed by other racial issues such as school segregation and the right to vote. Of particular importance is the racism that was prevalent at federal and state level agricultural offices, particularly the United States Department of Agriculture.

The article discusses the ethnic history of Irish Americans during the 1830s and 1840s. The author reflects on the background and repercussions of Daniel O'Connell's March 30, 1845 speech in Dublin, Ireland criticizing American slavery, which included remarks on Anglo-American relations. The author believes O'Connell's words adversely effected relations between Great Britain and the United States resulting in the Irish Americans asserting their identity as US citizens.

The article suggests that the global reframing of the relationship between U.S. and its defeated, occupied Southern states, made "The Great South" series of Josiah Gilbert Holland in the "Scribner's Monthly" magazine a revelation for contemporary U.S. readers. Holland's choice of his correspondent for the series also demonstrated the connection that the was emphasizing between British imperial writing about Africa and the U.S. postwar writing about the southern states.

The article explores the ambiguity surrounding the term "plain folk," with which students of Southern history are familiar. It also considers the reasons why the precise definition of the term has been elusive and analyzes the historiographical usage that has perpetuated the imprecision. The article then uses statistical data taken from the 1850 census to suggest a precise definition of "plain folk" that is designed to advance the research on social groupings in the antebellum South.

Reports on developments concerning the Southern Historical Association (SHA), compiled as of May 2005. Nominations for 2005; SHA meeting sites and dates; Sexual harassment policy of SHA; Obituaries.

This article considers the incidence and meaning of return migration that took place during the twentieth-century "Great Migration" of southern whites and African-Americans to the U.S. North and West. Southern whites in particular had an unusually high rate of return, though this pattern varied significantly from one northern city to another. After presenting an overview of return movement in the Great Migration, this article compares migrants' experiences in two northern cities that had very different histories of return migration. Southern migrants to Indianapolis, Indiana, came mainly from a relatively prosperous southern region to which they returned with great frequency. Southern migrants to Cincinnati, Ohio, on the other hand, moved from one of the most impoverished subregions of the Appalachian South and were much more likely to choose life in the North over a questionable future at home. Ultimately, Cincinnati's migrants drew on their common sense of exile to build a vocal migrant community in the North, while Indianapolis's migrants showed no similar efforts. The two cases together demonstrate the importance of understanding the tight relationship between patterns in return migration and migrant community development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores the underground economy of the rural South through an investigation of slaves' unlawful trade with poor whites in the antebellum Carolinas. Important place the poor whites occupied within slaves' underground trading networks; Argument that while anxious slaveholders found such economic cooperation inimical to a society stratified on the basis of race, the calculated, rational nature of slave-poor white exchange blunted its potentially subversive character; Analysis of court records, census returns, slave narratives, and other sources; Several factors that helped determine the likelihood of illicit slave-poor white commerce.

Explores the links among hard, steady labor in field and household, evangelical faith, and a belief in a simple way of life joined to a gospel of work in antebellum South. Centrality of work and its importance for slaves and plain-folk families in southern U.S.; Debate over the spirit of capitalism and the nexus of capitalism and religion generated by Max Weber's "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism"; Protestant ethic's emphasis on the moral obligation to work to glorify God and the methodical use of every God-given moment of time; Intensity of religiosity in early New England and the concept of work as God's calling; Doctrine of allurement and southerners' penchant for leisure and idleness; Existence of flawed work ethics; Honorable work and respect for independence; Prescription for a happy life from years of hard labor; Labor-saving devices; Role of women in the success of yeoman establishments.

Presents information on southern historical studies in the United States recent as of August 2004. Preparations for the seventieth annual meeting of the Southern Historical Association scheduled from November 3 to 6, 2004 in Memphis, Tennessee; Academic appointment in universities across the country; Call for research manuscripts for the Gulf South History and Humanities Conference 2004.

Argues that the historical narratives pertaining to the lives of Creek Indians of the pre-revolutionary southern United States were flawed. Decades of chronic hostility between Native Americans and their European colonizers fueled by land ownership and hatred; Failure of historians to appreciate the nature and durability of socioeconomic relations that emerged in the region; Historical treatment of Indians as static and homogenous.