Slaves in the Family by by Edward Ball
This book is the history of the Ball family, starting with the migration from England to South Carolina in the 1600’s. The family developed rice plantations, which required many people to do the work of planting and harvesting rice. The obvious solution, was purchasing people through the slave market to do the work. Eventually the family owned many plantations and hundreds of people to make it possible to maintain the rice crops and plantation life.
Edward Ball takes us through the centuries of his family history, which includes the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. He describes how the allegiances were formed to protect the family’s way of life.
Mr. Ball became curious about the lives of the people his family had owned and wanted to know how the white family members were viewed by the Black descendants. He also wanted to know if some of his relatives were descendant from the plantation owners in the family.
This book makes an interesting juxtaposition to the book “Field of Blood”, which is told primarily from the point of view of white abolitionists leading up to the Civil War. It is definitely worth the effort to read or listen to if you are interested in the history of the United States and want to understand the deep divide that still exists in this country.