Changes

Usner insists that the old ways may have been crushed under the heel of the advancing plantation economy in the Lower MS Valley, but they persisted on a small scale long after the "frontier exchange economy" fell apart. As proof, he points to "itinerant camps of Indians selling games and herbs" in the nineteenth century, and African American street peddlers in Natchez and New Orleans. People clung to these old ways to survive since there was little place for Indians in the plantation system and the new order abhorred any black autonomy. He also argues that food, like okra and rice, is the best evidence of lasting traditions from the lost world of the 18th century.

''This article was originally published on [http://videri.org/index.php?title=Indians,_Settlers,_and_Slaves_in_a_Frontier_Exchange_Economy| Videri.org] and is republished here with their permission. [http://videri.org/index.php?title=Guide_to_the_Literature Check out other great articles at Videri.org.]

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