Mississippi, perhaps more than any other state, epitomized the Old South and all it stood for. Yet, at one time, this area had more in common with newly settled northwest territories than it did with older southeastern plantation districts. This book takes a close look at a "typical" Southern community, and traces its long process of economic, social, and cultural evolution. Focusing on Jefferson Davis's Warren County, Morris shows the transformation of a loosely knit Western community of pioneer homesteaders into a distinctly Southern society. This region was first settled by farmers and herders; by the turn of the nineteenth century, the wealthiest residents began to acquire slaves and to plant cotton, hastening the demise of the pioneer economy. Gradually, farmers began producing for the market, which drew them out of their neighborhoods and broke down local patterns of cooperation. Individuals learned to rely on extended kin-networks as a means of acquiring land and slaves, giving tremendous power to older men with legal control over family property. Relations between masters and slaves, husbands and wives, and planters and yeoman farmers changed with the emergence of the traditional patriarchy of the Old South; this transformation created the "Southern" society that Warren County's white residents defended in the Civil War. Drawing on wills, deeds, and court records, as well as manuscript materials, Morris presents a sensitive and nuanced portrait of the interaction between ideology and material conditions, challenging accepted notions of what we have come to understand as Southern culture.
Industry Reviews
"In Becoming Southern Christopher Morris has produced an excellent example of the `new local history.'...he inevitably engages many historiographical issues that have dominated studies of the South for the past thirty years....[T]his book is full of creative insights and manages to synthesize a variety of parts into a convincing portrait of a society and its people in the midst of change."--Georgia Historical Quarterly
"This is a noteworthy book."--Journal of American History
"This thoughtful, well-written study doubtless will be widely read and deservedly influential."--American Historical Review
"Morris's research is prodigious, his presentation captivating."--New Orleans Review
"This is a fascinating and illuminating book."--Canadian Journal of History
"Makes good use of a wide range of local records...[G]racefully address the big questions of southern history."--The Journal of Southern History
"Morris uses an impressive array of primary and secondary sources to fashion a holistic, ethnohistorical, and anthropologically informed study that deals with the environmental setting, the economic adaptations, the social structures, the political struggles, and the emerging ideologies of a single community during nine decades of southern history."--Journal of Interdisciplinary History
"Becoming Southern provides a coherent and illuminating...analysis of the patterns of economic, political, and social evolution in one antebellum county."--Mississippi Quarterly
"In presenting his story of community formation, Morris introduces a number of thought-provoking ideas that often challenge conventional wisdom about slavery and the role of kin and family in southern life....There can be no question but that Morris's study is among the best on southern distinctiveness and community scholarship."--Southern Cultures
"This fine study...makes an important contribution....Morris's study sheds considerable light on issues of regional significance by careful examination of a specific locale."--History
"A worthy addition to the literature on the antebellum South. The book demonstrates how local social conditions influenced economic arrangements, political culture, and daily life, and Morris reminds scholars again that the Old South was neither monolithic nor static. For understanding Southern culture, Morris tells us in his introduction, 'the little community is a worthwhile place to start'. He has proved his point well."--Alabama Review
"Christopher Morris displays the enviable ability to combine analytical sophistication and detailed analysis of local sources with a strong narrative and appropriate generalisations...[A] valuable source for students of all aspects of antebellum southern life."--American Studies Today
