A place to live in peace : free people of color in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana / Evelyn L. Wilson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wilson, Evelyn L., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Free Black people--Louisiana--West Feliciana Parish--History--19th century.

Free Black people.

African Americans--Louisiana--West Feliciana Parish--Social life and customs--19th century.

African Americans.

African Americans--Race identity--Louisiana--West Feliciana Parish.

Plantation life--Louisiana--West Feliciana Parish--History--19th century.

Plantation life.

West Feliciana Parish (La.)--History.

West Feliciana Parish (La.).

Louisiana--Race relations--History--19th century.

Louisiana.

Physical Description:

viii, 197 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

Other Title:

Free people of color in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana

Place of Publication:

Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, [2024]

Summary:

"A Place to Live in Peace: Free People of Color in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana reveals a community where free people of color lived harmoniously with white people even as slavery persisted. Author Evelyn L. Wilson documents the presence, land ownership, business development, and personal relationships of free people of color in this Louisiana parish. In the last decade before the Civil War, tensions over slavery in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, led to the separation of free people of color from their white counterparts. But until the 1850s, free people of color had lived and thrived there. The free people of color who inhabited West Feliciana Parish were not a settled population with a common background or a long history of freedom. Some entered the parish already free, others purchased their freedom, while others had been freed by slaveholders for differing reasons. Regardless of how they arrived in the parish, they found themselves in a community that valued the talents and skills they had to offer without regard to the color of their skin. These individuals were integrated into their community, lived among white neighbors, provided needed services, and owned successful businesses. Using extensive archival research, including court records, government documents, legal citations, and periodicals, Wilson interprets the lives, experiences, and contributions of free people of color in West Feliciana Parish. The integral role that these free people of color played in the parish complicates common understandings of the antebellum South"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1. West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana

Chapter 2. Free people of color in West Feliciana Parish

Chapter 3. Land sales, loans, and litigation

Chapter 4. Earning a living

Chapter 5. Black-White personal relationships

Chapter 6. And then the war came

Epilogue

Notes

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Wilson, Evelyn L. Place to live in peace

ISBN:

9781496852168

1496852168

9781496852175

1496852176

OCLC:

1411219843

Publisher Number:

99996515518