Old Plantation Days, Annotated

The author, of Southern family and background, became a respected faculty member at Vassar College after the War Between the States. In the first person narrative to her granddaughter in the form of a letter, she tells of her family's history and proceeds to explain to her granddaughter -and in the long run -to the world, in what became a printed book of her early life on an archetypal Southern plantation in which the owners assumed a patriarchal benevolent role in the management of their slaves of African descent, which, she emphasized, they inherited. In her opinion, great favor was bestowed upon the Africans who were brought to America, because they escaped from a tribal form of existence, became "civilized," and ultimately Christianized, full-fledged citizens of the United States of America. To Mrs. DeSaussure, Southern plantation life was the most benign form of slavery that had ever existed in the world. For instance, she describes how young mothers were given light duties in order that they might give proper nourishment to their babies, and how well their health was attended to by the plantation mistress. She describes the labors of her mother and her concern for those entrusted into her care. The reader can clearly discern that Mrs. D. is straightforwardly giving the picture of plantation life as seen from her mind's eye. Because all of this takes place near Charleston, South Carolina, the firing upon of Ft. Sumter is discussed, but she does not go into the deep-seated causes of the war, wisely leaving them to those who write political history. In this first person narrative, she chronicles the high expectations of the war years and the low spirits of the late war, as experienced by those around her. She vividly recalls "Sherman's march to the sea," and how the ruin and destruction affected her family and the surrounding area. She compares and contrasts the plenty of the antebellum years with the starvation and horrid living conditions experienced postbellum. She makes the point that the former slaves suffered, too, as they were suddenly thrust out on their own to earn their living in a devastated land. Her conclusion is actually at the beginning of her account, and it is on a high note. She declares, "The South as I knew it has disappeared: the New South has risen from the ashes, filled with the energetic spirit of a new age." This is an old (1909) classic that has been reprinted many times. This particular reprint has been annotated by a former history teacher, who has added many appropriate illustrations to make the story even more vibrant, in addition to footnotes about the author's family and various subject matter within the book.