The Bondsman's Burden: An Economic Analysis of the Common Law of Southern Slavery

Cambridge Historical Studies in American Law and Society

by Jenny B. Wahl

Were slaves property or human beings under the law? Antebellum Southern judges designed efficient laws that protected property rights and helped slavery remain economically viable, laws that sheltered the persons embodied by that propertySH-the slaves themselves. Unintentionally, these judges generated rules applicable to ordinary Americans. Wahl provides a rigorous, compelling economic analysis of the common law of Southern slavery, inspecting thousands of legal disputes.

292 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997