In 1859, at the largest recorded slave auction in American history, over 400 men, women, and children were sold by the Butler Plantation estates. This book is one of the first to analyze the operation of this auction and trace the lives of slaves before, during, and after their sale. Immersing herself in the personal papers of the Butlers, accounts from journalists that witnessed the auction, genealogical records, and oral histories, Anne C. Bailey weaves together a narrative that brings the auction to life. Demonstrating the resilience of African American families, she includes interviews from the living descendants of slaves sold on the auction block, showing how the memories of slavery have shaped people's lives today. Using the auction as the focal point, The Weeping Time is a compelling and nuanced narrative of one of the most pivotal eras in American history, and how its legacy persists today.
Author(s): Anne C. Bailey
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2017
Language: English
Pages: 208
City: Cambridge
Cover
Half-title
Title page
Copyright information
Dedication
Table of contents
List of figures
Acknowledgments
Part I The Breach
1 The Weeping Time
Notes
2 The Auction and American History
The Black Family and Its Resilience
The Journey to the Weeping Time
Roadmap of The Weeping Time
Notes
Part II Linked Fates
3 Pierce Butler and His Grandfather’s Legacy
Bequeathing Denial
Two Parallel Worlds: Public and Private Lives
A Costly Procrastination
Notes
4 Mr. and Mrs. Butler
Notes
5 More Than “Hands”: African Rhythms and Work on the Butler Plantations
African Agricultural Traditions
Contribution to Masters and Modernity
Contribution of Transatlantic Rice Culture
Cotton Planting
Other Plantation Workers
The Boatmen and their Musical Traditions
Music and Resistance
Notes
6 Faith on the Butler Estates
Shadrach’s Funeral
Enslaved by Religion but Freed by Faith
Fanny Kemble: Bridging the Divide Between Master and Slave
Christianity, Islam and Other Dieties
Butler’s Evolution
The Enduring Ring Shout
Notes
7 A Family Divided, a Nation Divided
Division in the Butler Family
Family Life: a Casualty of Slavery
Division in the Nation
Black Agency and Colored Troops
The Brothers’ War
Two Groundbreaking Documents: the Emancipation Proclamation and Sherman’s Field Order No. 15
Notes
Part III Healing the Breach
8 Reconstruction and Reconnecting Threads
Families First
Freedmen’s New Work Arrangements
Reaching for the Future: Voting and Pension Advocacy
Ex-Slave Pension Advocacy
Civil War Pensions
Notes
9 Out of the Silence: Descendants Restore Family Names
Descendants Discover Their Family Lineages
Annette Holmes’ Story
Mabel Audingston Thompson Hewlin’s Story
Tiffany Shea Young’s Story
Other Families Recovered
African Ancestral Names
Names When Freedom Came
Notes
Epilogue: History and the Democratization of Memory
Memory, Silence, and Its Companion, Denial
Combatting Denial
Memory and Power
Contested Memories and Group Identity
Memory and Homelessness
Memory, History, and Contemporary Relevance
Memory and the Gift of Resilience
Memory and Science
Science and the Road to Recovery
Recovery and the Democratization of Memory
Notes
Appendix
A Note on Sources and Bibliography
Archival Sources
Library of Congress
National Archives
Yale University Avalon Project
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Other Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
Books and Articles
Index
