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Dissertation Information for Diane Mutti Burke

NAME:
- Diane Mutti Burke

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- History

SCHOOL:
- Emory University (USA) (2004)

ADVISORS:
- Elizabeth Fox-Genovese

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- James L Roark
- Eugene Genovese

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: On slavery's borders: Slavery and slaveholding on Missouri's farms, 1821--1865

Abstract: Missouri provides an appropriate window for both the study of small-slaveholding and for an examination of regional diversity in slavery. Plantation slavery never developed in Missouri because the state's geography and history instead encouraged the migration of small-slaveholders and yeomen from the Upper South. Missouri slaveholding families toiled together with their small slave work forces to maintain both the agricultural and the domestic operations of their farms. Slaves performed the most arduous tasks, and because overseers were rare, most slaveholding men and women directly supervised and assisted this labor. The intimacy of farm life fostered personal relationships, allowing slaves and slaveholders the extraordinary power to influence the quality of one another's lives. The unique circumstances found on Missouri farms increased slaves' ability to resist, while at the same time often eroded the power of slaveholders. Some slaves improved their lives through this resistance, but others were exposed to the worst forms of abuse. In the end, the quality of the relationships was largely determined by the personality of the owners.

Slaves' family and community lives were profoundly affected by the demography and history of Missouri slavery as well. The average Missouri slave family consisted of a slave mother and her children on one farm and the husband and father on another farm. Although "abroad" slave men were unable to provide their families with the same emotional, physical, and economic support afforded resident spouses, many marriages proved remarkably stable and lasted for many years. Living on small slaveholdings, most Missouri slaves also lacked the benefits of a plantation slave quarter community. Slaves instead developed meaningful relationships with slaves on other farms as they ran errands for their owners, were hired out, attended dances and work "frolics," worshiped, and traveled to visit their abroad spouses. The Civil War was a period of great turmoil in Missouri's slaveholding communities, exposing many of the tensions that were always present on the borders of slavery.

MPACT Scores for Diane Mutti Burke

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:33:49

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Students under Diane Mutti Burke

ADVISEES:
- None

COMMITTEESHIPS:
- None