{"product_id":"the-devils-lane-sex-and-race-in-the-early-south","title":"The Devil's Lane: Sex and Race in the Early South","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen Europeans settled in the early South  they quarreled over many things--but few imbroglios were so fierce as battles over land. Landowners wrangled bitterly over boundaries with neighbors and contested areas became known as \"the devils lane.\" Violence and bloodshed were but some of the consequences to befall those who ventured into these disputed territories. The Devils Lane highlights important new work on sexuality  race  and gender in the South from the seventeenth- to the nineteenth-centuries. Contributors explore legal history by examining race  crime and punishment  sex across the color line  and slander. Emerging stars and established scholars such as Peter Wood and Carol Berkin weave together the fascinating story of competing agendas and clashing cultures on the southern frontier. One chapter focuses on a communitys resistance to a hermaphrodite  where the town court conducted a series of \"examinations\" to determine the individuals gender. Other pieces address topics ranging from resistance to sexual exploitation on the part of slave women to spousal murders  from interpreting womens expressions of religious ecstasy to a pastors sermons about depraved sinners and graphic depictions of carnage  all in the name of \"exposing\" evil  and from a case of infanticide to the practice of state-mandated castration. Several of the authors pay close attention to the social and personal dynamics of interracial womens networks and relationships across place and time. The Devils Lane illuminates early forms of sexual oppression  inviting comparative questions about authority and violence  social attitudes and sexual tensions  the impact of slavery as well as the twisted course of race relations among blacks  whites  and Indians. Several scholars look particularly at the Gulf South  myopically neglected in traditional literature  and an outstanding feature of this collection. These eighteen original essays reveal why the intersection of sex and race marks an essential point of departure for understanding southern social relations  and a turning point for the field of colonial history. The rich  varied and distinctive experiences showcased in The Devils Lane provides an extraordinary opportunity for readers interested in womens history  African American history  southern history  and especially colonial history to explore a wide range of exciting issues.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44955531739189,"sku":"ByrdShop_0195112431","price":32.41,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780195112436.jpg?v=1770310249","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-devils-lane-sex-and-race-in-the-early-south","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}