All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake

Paternalism was the pervasive mindset among white Southern elites that people of color were inherently inferior to white people and required the care and administration of whites. White Southern elites believed that they had the predestined right to exact their will over those they considered their inferiors and that they were following the rightful order of the natural world in exercising their dominion over others.

Sumptuary laws were property laws established to dictate who was allowed to purchase and own certain objects and articles. As it pertained to enslaved people, these laws restricted which types of fabrics enslaved people could wear and own, resulting in an immediately recognizable cadre of garments identifying their wearers as enslaved. 

Known for its multitude of churches, Charleston was nicknamed “The Holy City” early in its history as a reference to the number of faith denominations represented by these institutions. Miles features this nickname in quotes as a reminder of Charleston’s dark past beneath its attractive veneer.