Review: They Were Her Property: White Women and the Economy of American Slavery by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers

Title: They Were Her Property: White Women and the Economy of American Slavery
Author: Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers
Publisher: Yale University Press
Publication Date: February 19, 2019
Edition: Hardcover (320 pages)
Genres:

• Nonfiction
• African American History
• Civil War
• Slavery
• United States History

My Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers presents a compelling and startlingly detailed narrative concerning southern white women and their relationship to slavery in the American South, prior to and during the Civil War, as well as during Reconstruction. She dispels the myth that southern white women were not intimately involved in the slave trade as well as ownership of slaves. The barbaric nature of the institution of slavery is at the forefront of this work.

This book is an emotional read for anyone who, like me, cares deeply about human rights. The inhumanity to man revealed here is of epic proportion, and this book details the nature of slavery, the involvement of women as owners of enslaved people, and their appalling treatment of human beings. I had to pause, often, as I read this book, to get a grip on my emotions. It is difficult to put into words the anger and sadness this book evoked in me. And this narrative is not based on supposition or interpretation. It is based on historical evidence, often in the words of enslaved people themselves.