A look at the extensive inequality and individualism in Prince George's County, Maryland, and the wider tobacco south, this book draws on colonial historiography to take a groundbreaking approach and examines the profound impacts of the structure of the international tobacco trade on local life.

Autorentext
STEVEN SARSON ****is a Lecturer in the Department of History, at Swansea University, UK.

Inhalt
Introduction: The "Chosen People": Agrarian Myths and Messier Realities Prologue: "The Interest of the County": Prince George's County Levy Court and Local Politics, Economy, and Society "The Way to Make a Huge Fortune": The Planters "One must differentiate oneself a little": Planter Gentility, Economy, Dynasty, and Politics "I Don't Stand to the Will": Yeomen Farmers and Smallholders "Being Allowed the Liberty": Tenant Farmers and Artisans "The Torment with the Servants": Wage Workers, Servants, and Slaves Epilogue: "Objects of Distress": The Poor and the Destitute Appendix: A Statistical Analysis of Wealth Distribution and Mobility