Rise and Fall Plantation South

Catalog description

This reading and research seminar will explore major topics in the social, cultural, economic, and political history of the plantation South. The course will begin with the origins of the plantation system in the colonial era to its eventual decline in the 20th century. We will consider regional variations tied to the production of export crops including tobacco, rice, cotton, and sugar. Major themes will include issues of race and class, changing labor systems, comparative history, and the impact of the planting system on the region's history.