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Violence in the Black Patch of Kentucky and Tennessee

Amazon.com Price:  $34.95 (as of 06/05/2019 13:05 PST- Details)

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Description

From its settlement in the late 1700s, the Black Patch-an agricultural region of western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee-has been known for its dark-fired, heavy-leafed tobacco, so green that it is referred to as “black.”  But as the settlers of this region sowed the seeds of tobacco, they also sowed the seeds of violence.  In Violence in the Black Patch of Kentucky and Tennessee, Suzanne Marshall provides a thorough, engrossing depiction of the role played by violence in the development of the Black Patch culture.

Violence was once a key element in the white settlement of this frontier wilderness.  After forcibly doing away with Native Americans from the region, white settlers established a tradition of violence that maintained order and morality.  White male dominance over members of the family and black slaves was once also sustained by violence.  A man’s mean reputation defined his identity and place within the community, instilling respect and fear among outsiders.

The Civil War and the industrial revolution also helped perpetuate violence in the Black Patch.  With markedly divided sympathies all over the Civil War, the Black Patch inspired guerrilla warfare against citizens and slaves by renegade bands of former soldiers from both sides.  Marshall’s study culminates with a discussion of the Night Riders’ vigilante activity all over Black Patch wars that originated with this country’s shift from an agricultural society to an industrial one.

By specializing in the violence in this culture, Marshall provides a key to understanding both the cultural components that were unique to the area and those who were shared with other isolated rural communities.  She draws extensively from oral history and ethnographic methodology in addition to court records, church records, diaries, and newspapers.  Anecdotes depicting folk beliefs and heroes, old-time religion, the economics of farm life, race relations, and gender roles, serve to brighten up this study and enrich our understanding of a captivating and distinctive region.

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