Bk. I.God is not mocked. -- pt. 1. Of the willing and the obedient -- On paternalism -- Farmers, planters, and overseers -- The hegemonic function of the law -- In the name of humanity and the cause of reform -- Our Black family -- A duty and a burden -- Of concubines and horses -- The moment of truth -- pt. 2. And the children bought up -- To the manor born -- De good massa -- Our white folks -- Some valiant soldier here -- Bk. II. The rock and the church -- pt. 1. Of the God of the living -- The Christian tradition -- Slave religion in hemispheric perspective -- Black conversation and white sensibility -- Let the dead bury the dead -- The white preachers -- Origins of the folk religion -- The gospel in the quarters -- The Black preachers -- Religious foundations of the Black nation -- pt. 2. And every man according as his work shall be -- Time and work rhythms -- A "lazy" people -- The Black work ethic -- Bk. III. The valley of the shadow -- pt. 1. Of the sons of Jacob -- Life in the big house -- The men between -- Men of skill -- Free Negroes -- Miscegenation -- The language of class and nation -- A conclusion and a preface -- pt. 2. And the coat of many colors -- The naming of cats -- The myth of the absent family -- Romances of the field -- Broomsticks and orange blossoms -- Husbands and fathers -- Wives and mothers -- The children -- The old folks -- Hearth and home -- Gardens -- Kitchens, high and low -- Clothes make the man and the woman -- Reading, writing, and prospects -- De big times -- Bk. IV. Whom God hath hedged in -- The slave revolts -- On resistance -- "Roast pig is a wonderful delicacy, especially when stolen" -- Standing up to the man -- Brothers, sisters, and no-'counts -- "All Negroes are fatalists" -- The runaways -- The bright and morning star -- Appendix -- The fate of paternalism in modern bourgeois society : the case of Japan.