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book reviews361 Slavery's End in Tennessee, 1861-1865. By John Cimprich. (University: University of Alabama Press, 1985. Pp. iv, 191. $27.50.) In recent years, historians have at last showed more interest in understanding the social and economic history of the Confederacy and relatingit to whathappened after thewar. Butbeforethe appearanceofJohn Cimprich's brief but well-researched and clearly written monograph, there was not a single book-length study which dealt with slavery at the state or community level. Cimprich's work thus fills a significant gap. We can begin to interpret thebehavior of freedmen and southern whites during Reconstruction in the light of wartime preliminaries. Basing his account mostly on newspapers, federal army and Freedmen 's Bureau records, and the Tennessee file of the American Missionary Association Archives, Cimprich organizes his book chronologically and topically. The first three chapters deal with slavery in Tennessee under Confederate control and federal occupation. The next four chapters cover the emergence of black ghettos and contraband camps, the beginnings of social and economic Reconstruction, black service in both Confederate and Union armies, and the role of black freedmen in state and local politics during the war. A final chapter is mostly concerned with how whites and blacks reacted to emancipation in 1865 and its effects on the state's social and economic systems. Overall, the balance and topical emphasis of the book is good. Cimprich could have improved his coverage of some items had he systematically mined local government primary sources, particularly those of Tennessee's larger cities. The theme that Cimprich argues throughout his book is black assertiveness and independence. He divides white antislavery reformers into two categories: "laissez-faire" adherents (who wanted to minimize social and economic aid to blacks as slavery died so that they would be forced to stand on their own) and paternaliste, who believed that slavery had rendered blacks temporarily unfit for freedom without white supervision and assistance. Cimprich demonstrates that both reform groups shortchanged black freedmen: slaves needed federal and state aid when they became freedmen but they were far less dependent psychologically on whites than the patemalists ever realized. In arguing his case, Cimprich provides many interesting tidbits of information . He offers additional evidence to support Herbert Gutman's thesis concerning the stability of black family life. Only 7 percent of slave marriages in three counties in west Tennessee during the war ended by choice of the partners and only 23 percent by decision of owners. The author's description of Andrew Johnson's racial attitudes adds fresh detail to that subject. While infected by racism, as Eric McKitrick and others have documented, Tennessee's military governor emerges in Cimprich's study as a sincere advocate of emancipation. This book is a useful addition to the literature on slavery. It does not 362civil war history offer any major methodological or theoretical insights, but very few books do. Those interested in slavery and the Civil War period should read it. There is a definite need for studies of wartime slavery in other states. Partially because of the state's sizable white Unionist population, the history of slavery's end in Tennessee (especially the political events) may be very different than what happened elsewhere. James M. Russell University of Tennessee at Chattanooga The Seed of Sally Good'n: A Bhck Family of Arkansas, 1833-1853. By Ruth Polk Patterson. (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1985. Pp. xvi, 183. $19.00.) In recent years oral history, genealogical records, and artifacts unearthed by trained archeologists have become acceptable tools for historical study. Dr. Ruth Polk Patterson in The Seed of Sally Good'n has skillfully used these tools and orthodox methods of historical documentation to recreate one hundred fiftyyears of her family's history. It is the history of a black Arkansas family struggling to survive and maintain respectability during the turbulent years that followed the Civil War and the Reconstruction era. Sally Good'n was a slave of African-Choctaw Indian descent purchased by Taylor Polk, a white planter on the Arkansas frontier in the 1820s, who sired fourchildrenby her. Their third child was Spencer Polk, the grandfather of the author, and it is their story that Dr...

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