Til Death or Distance Do Us Part

<p>Conventional wisdom tells us that marriage was illegal for African Americans during the antebellum era and that if people married at all their vows were tenuous ones: "until death or distance do us part." It is an impression that imbues beliefs about black families to this day. But it's a perception primarily based on documents produced by abolitionists the state or other partisans. It doesn't tell the whole story.</p><p>Drawing on a trove of less well-known sources including family histories folk stories memoirs sermons and especially the fascinating writings from the Afro-Protestant Press <em>'Til Death or Distance Do Us Part</em> offers a radically different perspective on antebellum love and family life.</p><p>Frances Smith Foster applies the knowledge she's developed over a lifetime of reading and thinking. Advocating both the potency of skepticism and the importance of story-telling her book shows the way toward a more genuine more affirmative understanding of African American romance both then and now.</p>