The Ball slaves were easier to define. . An equal part came from all awareness that long ago our family had lived like lords, and that the world could still be divided into the pedigreed and the rootless. A journalist's exhaustively researched, intensely personal quest confronts the legacy of slavery connecting his South Carolina family and the people they WebIn Slaves in the Family, Edward Ball, a descendant of Elias Ball, has written a nonfiction American saga. In Muscovy and China, slave owners could sell or will children apart from their parents, but marriages were inviolable. Very interesting and engaging read. To not record it is to deny the truth and there has been too much denial. second floor was lined with more cypress, broken up here and there by fluted pilasters topped with Corinthian capitals. Slavery traders tried to cheat Africans with impure Cornish copper, says study. The author explores his family origins, dating to his English immigrant ancestors to America and their becoming major planters in South Carolina. It gives insights into the history of plantations in the South and on the complicated, nuanced interpersonal relationships between enslaved people and the families that owned them that Ive never read anywhere else. I read this book during a vacation in Hawaii; I found it so compelling I couldn't put it down.This book is an example of a trend in history writing by journalists that weds the personal style of "new journalism" with serious historical research. Sitting on her backporch, listening to her unfiltered, affectionate, loving even, reference shocked my young-adult-in-the-70s heart in such an explosion that I am pretty sure guilt will cover me for the rest of my life. Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them. After a century of intermarriage among the few white families on the Cooper River, the Balls were kin to most of their neighbors. Despite my having left the South, the plantation past was etched in my unconscious. If you are a history buff, especially the Civil War era, then this book is for you. The book is so well written that it holds your attention even though there is a lot of genealogical material in it. He writes movingly about the treatment of the slaves and about his encounters with their descendants. I would find out what had occurred on the Ball lands in as much detail as I could. plaster. When the Civil War ended in 1865, the family held many plantations, all of them on the Cooper River: The Blessing, Buck Hall, Cedar Hill, Cherry Hill, Comingtee, Dean Hall, Halidon Hill, Hyde Park, Americans. twenty of them along the Cooper River, north of Charleston. In a moment the skipper rounded a bend in the river and we came in sight of the oldest Ball place, Comingtee plantation. Paradoxically, by describing Over time, his family earned the reputation as "the most prominent of South Carolina plantation owners. I learned much about so many things that it is too much to write about. Ball is telling these many stories and sharing what others know about the history. Rather than responsible, I felt accountable for what had happened, called Anyone who watches "Who Do You Think You Are?" WebIn Slaves in the Family, Edward Ball recounts his efforts to track down and meet the descendants of his family's slaves. On one side stood the ancestors, vivid, serene, proud; on the other their slaves, anonymous, taboo, half humanTo contemplate slaverywhich for most Americans is a mysterious, distant event---was a bit like doing psychoanalysis on myself. There are traces of that attitude in the reviews that complain that Ball is too "angsty," that he shouldn't feel guilty, but one of the strengths of this book is that he confronts how the legacy of slavery and 'white supremacy' has held families back even today. Site Search | International | More than twenty years after this celebrated work of narrative nonfiction won the National Book Award and changed the American conversation about Real Estate | The three of us drove north out of Charleston on a two-lane blacktop toward the upper streams of the Cooper River, where rice grew "Your ancestors." By skewing things so violently in the past, we had made sure that our cultural riches would benefit all white This book speaks to me in a very personal way. The slave revolt and sentimental (how touching the cast of family characters!). Cheryl B, Insightful, but a Challenging Book to Read, well-written, powerful confrontation with evil and family. "What does that leave to talk about?" Remember your ancestors may have been slaves and finding that out opens up certain realizations. This is an important book. , Edward Ball, a descendant of Elias Ball, has written a nonfiction American saga. the census enumerator did not record, belonged to a family of eight whites in the mansion. Their plantations were among the oldest and longest-standing plantations in the South. .but mine are all in North Carolina, and then trundle down to Georgia before heading to Louisiana and northwest Texas, and former slaves came with them to Texas. I got a personal glimpse of the American Revolution, because the Balls had played a role in it--some of us fought for the British, some for independence. WebFreeBookNotes found 11 sites with book summaries or analysis of Slaves In The Family. More than twenty years after this celebrated work of narrative nonfiction won the National Book Award and changed the American conversation about race. we were different from other people. The writing style initially is very well done, but I feel that by the end of the book, he may have been wrapping it up quickly. I learned a lot, and then the emotions came--it was hard to fathom some of the events that took place. Their children and grandchildren were Ball cousins, in the same family realm, and ties thinned slowly. Between 1698 and 1865, the 167 years the family was in the slave business, close to four thousand black people were born into slavery to the Balls or bought by them. Oddly I first heard of this book while cruising around YouTube one sleepless night. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Edward Ball, Winner of the 1998 Nonfiction Award for Slaves in the Family", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Slaves_in_the_Family&oldid=1114331625, National Book Award for Nonfiction winning works, Articles needing additional references from May 2021, All articles needing additional references, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 5 October 2022, at 23:57. Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2022. The first piece of paper I remember my father presenting to me regarding the family was an obituary from the Charleston News and Courier. Absolutely outstanding book. The ending felt forced. Part historical narrative, part oral history, part personal story of investigation and catharsis, Slaves in the Family is, in the words of Pat Conroy, "a work of breathtaking generosity and courage, a magnificent study of the complexity and strangeness and beauty of the word family. a thin old man wearing a blue workshirt. Many stayed put and married others in the same group, and their children did the same. worked by thirty or forty field hands, to giant covered with beige stucco that was cracked and chipping away. Ball follows the stories of these people over many years as the families dispersed. on to try to explain it. Due to the poor living conditions, disease and death rates were high. He covered his story from both sides of the Ball familyfrom descendants of the slaveowners to descendants of the slaves. Lord Cornwallis, who gave him a company of men and the rank of colonel. Without this property, my family wouldnt have a leg to stand on. Hear more of Patrices story in the video above, including how she says the land they were given has helped her family prosper. It takes a lot of courage to cold call black people and be like, "Hi, my great-grandfather owned your great-grandmother. Harrell described the case of Mae Louise Walls Miller, who didn't get her freedom until 1963, when she was about 14. The youngest was less The most prosperous households owned slaves for every imaginable purpose, purchased at the slave markets found in almost all Roman towns. stood against the curb to hold the thing in the air. Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago, This book is a moving and emotionallly powerful exploration and confrontation by one South Carolina-born writer with the moral consequences of the actions of his slave-owning and -selling ancestors. Considerable research has been done on the treatment of slaves, and the consensus is that, while the law may have spelled out the desired social standards of master-slave relations, it did not necessarily define the reality for any particular situation. The sugar fields, workers, and mansion . Please try your request again later. A history/biography about the plantation and slave-owning family Ball and the people they owned. Most of the rest were wiped aside in waves of demolition that began in the 1900s. The book is well researched and offers not only historical bits that we would not have learned in school, but debunks some of the misconceptions we were taught. At the other extreme, in the American South material conditions were sufficiently favourable to provide comparative comfort for both masters and slaves. $26. A major issue was whether the master had to allow the slave to marry and what rights the owner had over slave offspring. Not all greeted him with open arms and some of his own family members were hostile. Our group, very yankee and very white wondered how our discussion would have been different if we had a representative from the south and/or a Black American. Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app. as honestly as possible what the family had done, I might clear some space around our name, and around us. : In a host of other societies, such as ancient and Roman Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria, Talmudic Palestine, Gortyn, much of medieval Germany, Thailand, Mongol and Qing China, medieval Spain, and the northern Nigerian emirates, slaves had the right of property ownership. , Publisher Wambaw Elias fought the patriots and burned their houses until such time as the British lost and his victim called for revenge. Essential Source to Understand Americas Fractured Identity, Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2021. 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