{"product_id":"how-curious-a-land-jonathan-m-bryant-9780807856147","title":"How Curious a Land: Conflict and Change in Greene County, Georgia, 1850-1885","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe story of the Civil War and Reconstruction in Greene County, Georgia, is a remarkable tale of both fundamental change and essential continuity. In \u003ci\u003eHow Curious a Land\u003c\/i\u003e, Jonathan Bryant follows the county's social, economic, and legal transformation from a wealthy, self-sufficient plantation economy based on slavery to a largely impoverished, economically dependent community dominated by a new commercial class of merchants and lawyers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEmancipated slaves made up two-thirds of the county's population at the end of the Civil War, and thanks to an able, charismatic, and politically active leadership, they enjoyed early success in pressing for their rights. But their gains, says Bryant, were only temporary, because the white elite retained control of the legal system and used it effectively against blacks. Law also helped shape the course of economic change as, for example, postbellum laws designed to benefit the new commercial elite ensured poverty for most of the county's small farmers, both black and white, by relegating them to the status of sharecroppers and tenants. As a result, the county's wealth, though greatly diminished in the postbellum years, remained concentrated in the hands of a small elite.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Jonathan M. Bryant\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0807856142\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780807856147\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of North Carolina Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/31\/2004\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 276\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.95lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.63d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIngram Advance\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/01\/2005 pg. 107","brand":"Jonathan M. Bryant","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48483711418623,"sku":"9780807856147","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_814a3d0b-a8d5-4e55-962d-6fc907cb5828.jpg?v=1778040159","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/how-curious-a-land-jonathan-m-bryant-9780807856147","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}