Americans in the twenty-first century find themselves searching for new understandings of their history. They seek explanations for chronic political polarization, acute pandemic polarization, social media addiction, heightened concern over global warming and armed global conflict, widening cultural and economic gaps between city and countryside, persistent racial tensions, gender divides, tensions over abortion rights and the public school curriculum, and a forty-year pattern of increasing economic inequality in the United States. Americans are looking for a past that can help them understand the divided and fractious present, a past that enlightens and inspires. In this collection of original essays, Lacy K. Ford uses the past to inform the present, as he provides a deeper, more nuanced understanding of American history and the American South's complicated relationship with it.
Introduction; Part I. Understanding the American South and the Civil War in a New Century: 1. A twenty-first century meaning for the American Civil War: a post-Cold War reflection; Part II. Understanding the South and the American Identity: 2. The liberal tradition: southern exceptionalism, the Civil War, and the future of American liberalism; 3. The 'genius of American politics': The South, ideology, and American identity; 4. The 'People of Plenty': abundance and the American South in the age of inequality; Part III. Understanding Slavery, Race, and Inequality in the American South: 5. The problem of slavery reconsidered: the South, the nation, and a reflection on 'the travail of slavery'; 6. The legacy of W. E. B. DuBois: slavery and race in southern and American history; 7. An American elegy: the South during the ages of capital and inequality; 8. Transforming southern history: the role of women historians; 9. Fraying fabric of community: the unraveling of southern white working-class culture; Part IV. Understanding History and Irony: 10. The irony of southern history and the problem of innocence in American life.
Lacy K. Ford is a Scholar-in-Residence at the Institute for Southern Studies, University of South Carolina, where he served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 2016–2020. The author of two prize-winning books, he has also been interviewed by The New York Times, CBS Evening News, CNN, and NPR's All Things Considered.
Reviews for Understanding the American South: Slavery, Race, Identity, and the American Century
'A preeminent scholar of Southern history, Lacy K. Ford grapples with questions of meaning and provides crucial context for the understanding we seek. He marshals an impressive knowledge about the South, American identity, and racial inequality, and offers much to ponder and debate. With a willingness to bring such hard honesty to the importance of studying history, and to understanding both the South and America, Ford also delivers inspiration. Essential reading for those interested in this subject.' Orville Vernon Burton, Clemson University, and author of Justice Deferred: Race and the Supreme Court 'In this sweeping study, Lacy K. Ford provides the insight, clarity, and boldness that we have come to expect from him. Written with the broad and deep knowledge of a preeminent scholar of southern history, this book explores subjects that include race and slavery, southern exceptionalism, and the lasting impact of the US Civil War. This is essential reading for students and scholars of southern history.' William A. Link, University of Florida, and author of Southern Crucible: The Making of an American Region
