This interpretation of the black experience in the South revealing emphasizes the evolution of slavery over time and the emergence of a rich, hybrid African American culture. From the incisive discussion on the origins of slavery in the Chesapeake colonies, John Boles embarks on an interpretation of a vast body of demographic, anthropological, and comparative scholarship to explore the character of black bondage in the American South. On such diverse issues as black population growth, the strength of the slave family, the efficiency and profitability of slavery, the diet and health care of bondsmen, the maturation of slave culture, the varieties of slave resistance, and the participation of blacks in the Civil War, Black Southerners provides a balanced and judicious treatment.

John B. Boles is William P. Hobby Professor of History at Rice University. He is the author of numerous books including A Companion to the American South, The South through Time: A History of an American Region, The Great Revival, and Masters and Slaves in the House of the Lord.