Crafting the Overseer's Image

Download or read book Crafting the Overseer's Image written by William E. Wiethoff and published by Univ of South Carolina Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first book-length study of the overseer in four decades, Wiethoff's study bridges historical, legal, and rhetorical scholarship to present a provocative investigation into the multifaceted roles of this oft-forgotten figure in plantation society. Wiethoff canvasses the period from 1650 through 1865 and across a southern expanse that stretches to include the Upper and Deep South. Overseers left scant written evidence about their lives and times, but Wiethoff unearths characterizations constructed by friends and enemies, neighbors and strangers. He also mines the legal record to gauge the impact of legislative and case law rhetoric on public memory.