ABSTRACT
In all likelihood, antebellum Amite County, Mississippi, had the appearance, at a glance, of paradise. But the stage upon which the Southern drama of liberty and slavery unfolded had in the end been constructed of smoke and mirrors, unable to withstand close inspection. The ironies inherent in the Old South belief that white liberty was the interest earned on the investment of black enslavement finally ignited in civil war. By peculiar accident, the Amite county seat was a town called Liberty, bringing special emphasis to bear upon the notion that somehow the mere presence of black slaves not only ensured "liberty" for all whites, but imbued it with a special sweetness. Relinquishing the cover of the poetically charged emotion, the questions linger: What was "freedom," and who, among the inhabitants of this place, had enjoyed the perquisites of it?
