Joining Places Summary

Throughout Joining Places: Slave Neighborhoods in the Old South, Anthony Kaye recounts the lives of slaves that lived in the Natchez District, which is in the Southwest region of Mississippi. Throughout the monograph, Kaye attempts to argue how the idea of slave neighborhoods were formed by slaves on adjoining plantations through work relationships, intimate relationships, and travel. The main focus of Joining Places centers around the idea of slave neighborhoods in the Natchez District. These neighborhoods did not encompass just one plantation like one may expect, but usually included some neighboring plantations as well. These plantations are where slaves usually worked and forged lasting relationships with other slaves. Kaye argues how …show more content…
The neighborhood ties these slaves had formed prior to the Civil War was instrumental in helping them transition into a post-slavery world. For example, prior to the war, few slave couples got married because marriage required a ceremony, which some masters would not allow. However, after the Civil War, many of these couples were permitted to legally marry, which helped solidify portions of their old neighborhood boundaries. The postwar world for these freedpeople brought forth new labor relationships. Prior to freedom, many slaves identified their neighborhood as including their own plantation and possibly one or two adjacent plantations. Other than the few men who were granted permission to search for work off the plantation, the majority of the time slaves spent was on their own plantation, which caused the majority of them to not form strong neighborhood bonds with slaves on different plantations. When these slaves achieved emancipation, however, it removed the restrictions on their movement which was instrumental in making work relationships the foundation to postwar