Slaves in the FamilyJournalist Ball confronts the legacy of his family's slave-owning past, uncovering the story of the people, both black and white, who lived and worked on the Balls' South Carolina plantations. It is an unprecedented family record that reveals how the painful legacy of slavery continues to endure in America's collective memory and experience. Ball, a descendant of one of the largest slave-owning families in the South, discovered that his ancestors owned 25 plantations, worked by nearly 4,000 slaves. Through meticulous research and by interviewing scattered relatives, Ball contacted some 100,000 African-Americans who are all descendants of Ball slaves. In intimate conversations with them, he garnered information, hard words, and devastating family stories of precisely what it means to be enslaved. He found that the family plantation owners were far from benevolent patriarchs; instead there is a dark history of exploitation, interbreeding, and extreme violence.--From publisher description. |
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Account and Blanket Affra African American Angola Ann Ball asked Ball family Ball slaves Ball's began Berkeley County Binah Blanket Book born bought boys BP-SCHS British brother Bunce Island called Charleston child church Civil colony Comingtee Comingtee plantation Cooper River cousin daughter descendants died Edwin Elias Ball Elias's Eliza father field hand Frayer grandfather Henry Laurens hundred husband Hyde Park Isaac Ball James Ball Jane John Ball John Ball Jr John Jr Kanu Kate Wilson Kensington knew land later Limerick Limerick plantation lived looked married Martin Mary miles mother moved Negroes North Philip Lucas photograph planters Poyas Private collection Quenby records Red Cap rice Richardson Second Elias sharecrop ships Sierra Leone slave owners slavery sold Sonya South Carolina stood story Sullivan's Island Third Elias told took Wambaw Elias Whitlock wife William Ball woman women workers wrote young