The World They Made Together: Black and White Values in Eighteenth-Century Virginia

by Mechal Sobel

This book takes a remarkable new view of the slave society of the South. Sobel shows that intensive interaction between blacks and whites had a two-way influence. Whereas previous historians have emphasized the effects of Anglo-American influence on the Afro-American subculture, Sobel contends that the culture of the English in America was in turn deeply affected by African values and perceptions.

Analyzing the social history of 18th-century Virginia, Sobel reveals how the preindustrial cultures brought to the New World were far more similar than has generally been recognized. The new culture being shaped in the American South was a mix of both African and English attitudes toward time and work, space and the natural world, causality and purpose. Sobel finds that in spite of the deep interpenetration of values between blacks and whites who lived, worked, played, and prayed together, whites were usually unaware of the way they were being changed by this process.

"This work is breathtakingly bold in its central thesis. Sobel goes farther than anyone…in establishing how thoroughly whites and blacks intermixed within the system of slavery and how extensive was the resulting cultural symbiosis. It is truly stunning to come on a book that is so innovative."
-- Gary B. Nash, UCLA

"…one of the most important works in the history of masters and slaves in the South to appear in the past twenty-five years. By showing the interdependence of white and black subcultures…she has changed the way we think about southern slave society."
-- Allan Kulikoff, Northern Illinois University

Genres: History, Anthropology, 18th Century

388 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Grady Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worlds Converged: Cultural Entanglement in Eighteenth‑Century Virginia;
An individual’s worldview is the cumulative product of influences, be it their cultural roots or present environment, which have acted upon the individual during their lifetime. The New World connected a large expanse of peoples, each of which carried their own reflections into the world around them. According to Mechal Sobel in The World They Made Together: Black and White Values in Eighteenth-Century Virginia, black and white worldviews integrated one another, forming a, “deep symbiotic relatedness,” which must be recognized to fully understand each group.
​Sobel’s book is organized thematically. The primary focus of her work is within eighteenth-century Virginia, and she organizes sections based on time, space, and causality. This organization allows Sobel to achieve a scholarly Venn-diagram-Esque analysis of African worldviews alongside English worldviews. Consequentially, it makes her writing much more difficult to follow. Nonetheless, Sobel successfully identifies and proves her thesis that, “blacks deeply influenced whites’ perceptions, values and identity.”
​Within her sections, Sobel discerns correlations between black and white worldviews. Sobel’s first argument depends on each culture’s view of time. Using quotes and historical reasoning, she dissects the English interpretation of time and elucidates the African connotation of time. The author argues that ideals regarding time were inseparable among the poor: black or white. Sobel additionally calls upon the homogenous views regarding spirits, and the integration of home—architecturally or symbolically—amongst black and white inhabitants of Virginia. Finally, she outlines the cultural influences of African slaves on the Christian church. Sobel adequately identifies African values within the church that, in eighteenth‑century Virginia, was structurally European but increasingly shaped by African presence. Collectively, Sobel displays that eighteenth‑century Virginia was marked by deep, unrecognized cultural overlap.
​The author makes extensive use of primary sources and real photographic images to supplement her arguments which resolve her otherwise scholarly prose. Because Sobel’s work contains dense prose and academic jargon, it is clearly targeted at a higher academic audience; however, her use of primary sources alongside visual imagery allows her argument to be slightly more accessible.
Throughout her literary work, Sobel successfully argues, employing a diverse array of methods, that by the end of the eighteenth century, black and white inhabitants of Virginia—despite the variety of worldviews held amongst the groups—shared inseparable values.

[Rudyard L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was simultaneously interesting and boring. The thesis makes a lot of sense, Africans were 40 percent of Virginia’s population and thus it would make an immense amount of sense if the Black community influenced the White. However, the thesis was somewhat muddled. For a lot these, the author posited an African origin for a cultural factor, but also posited an English or geographic origin that negated it. This book was interesting and I learned a lot, but it felt generally underwhelming.

[Larry Lamar Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, written by an Israeli scholar, is another “outsider” look at a time we think we know. It shows from contemporary documents how much whites and people of African descent interacted and influenced each other in the early years of the United States.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some interesting points, but the first time it was repetative and a hard read in the sense of making myself finish it. I was required to read the book a second time for another class and I found it much easier and more interesting the second time around.

[Salvatore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting look at early slavery in North America.

[Rita]

interesting, covers several aspects of interaction and influence between white and black people in virginia, discussing how values and attitudes changed.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just couldn't get into this one at all.