Enterprising southerners
Subtitle: Black economic success in North Carolina, 1865-1915
By: Robert C. Kenzer.
Series: Carter G. Woodson Institute series in Black studies
Publisher: University Press of Virginia
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Charlottesville
Language: eng
Number of pages: 178
Subjects: African Americans -- North Carolina -- Economic conditions; African Americans -- History -- 1863-1877; African Americans -- History -- 1877-1964; North Carolina -- Economic conditions
Description: Most historians agree that only a small share of southern blacks experienced economic gains in the fifty years following the Civil War. Little attention has been focused, however, on the minority who successfully acquired property and conducted business during this time. In Enterprising Southerners, Robert C.

Kenzer examines the characteristics of North Carolina's African-American population in order to explain the social and political factors that shaped economic opportunity for this group from the Civil War until 1915.

What is surprising, Kenzer asserts, is that his research does not support lingering theories that the "heritage of slavery" adversely affected blacks' performance in the market economy. Instead, he blames economic barriers to development, such as lack of capital and poorly developed markets. This study not only provides a valuable history of one state's black population, but also paves the way for similar scholarship in other southern states.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [161]-170) and index.