This chapter discusses terror, hope, and changing identities as they are reshaped by the changing physical, economic, and political geography of the coastal Carolinas, and as they organized and reorganized electoral struggles in the early years of the civil rights movements.

Starting with the deeply problematic concept of “culture,” this chapter explores the mechanical cotton picker, NAFTA, the changing production of the victims of the agrarian South’s labor demands, and the muscle put on voting. On this basis the legal town and the apparent town of Maxton are described, focusing on swamps and the changing availability of drinkable water. Current...