'Til Death or Distance Do Us Part

'Til Death or Distance Do Us Part is the first scholarly treatment of love, courtship, sexual morality and marriage in African America from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War. Most people believe that marriages were forbidden and families destroyed during the era of slavery in the United States; however, this book demonstrates that antebellum publications by African Americans for African Americans about themselves do not support these conclusions. Based upon extensive research in early African American writing, with special emphasis upon the Afro-Protestant Press, the book also considers the ill effects such erroneous and negative histories have caused, up to their influence on present day attitudes and behaviors, as well as suggesting the positive potential underscored by this truer portrait of black family life.