Laura F. Edwards Knihy

The transformation of inequality in the southern legal system after the Revolutionary War is explored through extensive archival research in North and South Carolina. The author highlights how localized legal practices played a crucial role in shaping these changes, offering a detailed examination of the evolving legal landscape during this significant period.

An history of the South in the years leading up to and following the Civil War focusing on the women, black and white, rich and poor, who made up the fabric of southern life before the war and remade themselves and their world after it. It explores the experiences and actions of individual women in the changing South.

Exploring the gendered dimension of political conflicts, Laura Edwards links transformations in private and public life in the era following the Civil War. Ideas about men's and women's roles within households shaped the ways groups of southerners—elite and poor, whites and blacks, Democrats and Republicans—envisioned the public arena and their own places in it. By using those on the margins to define the center, Edwards demonstrates that Reconstruction was a complicated process of conflict and negotiation that lasted long beyond 1877 and involved all southerners and every aspect of life.

Exploring the intersection of textiles and social justice, this book highlights how women, men of color, and impoverished individuals utilized clothing as a means of property. It examines how these textiles provided access to the legal system and empowered marginalized groups to assert their political rights, revealing the significant role of material culture in social movements.

Focusing on the legal and constitutional dimensions of the American Civil War, this book offers a clear and concise exploration of how these issues shaped the conflict. It delves into the critical legal debates and constitutional challenges that arose during this tumultuous period, providing readers with a deeper understanding of the war's impact on American law and governance.