Poor But Proud: Alabama's Poor Whites

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University of Alabama Press, 1989 - History - 469 pages
'Poor but proud' is an apt description of many white Alabamians through history. During the antebellum years, poor whites developed a distinctive culture on the periphery of the cotton belt. As herdsmen, subsistence farmers, mill workers, and miners they flourished in a society more renowned for its two-class division of planters and slaves. After the Civil War, poor whites were fully integrated into a market economy as tenant farmers, miners, textile operatives, sawmill and timber workers, and iron and steel workers, all earning a subsistence wage or less. Their status improved with the New Deal era and the advent of World War II, which broke a downward cycle and afforded new opportunities for poor whites. The author addresses the life experiences of poor whites not only through their occupations, but also by examining their family structure, folk culture, and attempts to resolve their own problems through labor unions and political movements. -- from book jacket.

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Contents

Unknown and Forgotten Ancestors
3
A Poor Mans Fight
36
Chapter 4
92
Copyright

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