Christmas in the Slave South
This chapter starts with William Gilmore Simms' The Bachelor's Christmas written in 1845. This text creatively describes the wonderful Southern Christmas, from all the weeks' preparation prior to the celebration of the day, up to the main event and the social order that transpired, where a fairly continuous Christmas celebration was enjoyed at least among the plantation elite. This chapter tackles changes experienced in the South as slavery spread westward and competition intensified resulting in more pronounced sectional differences, wherein after 1820 criticism in slavery intensified. Although with the challenges laid upon the Southern people, Christmas in the South still provided a picture of harmony amidst the increasing social tension, described vividly and beautifully in Simms' A Christmas Story of the South.
Keywords: William Gilmore Simms, The Bachelor's Christmas, A Christmas Story of the South, Southern Christmas, slavery
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