Slavery & the Law

by Paul Finkelman (Editor), Derrick Bell (Contributor), Jonathan A. Bush (Contributor)

Central to the development of the American legal system, writes Professor Finkelman in Slavery & the Law, is the institution of slavery. It informs us not only about early concepts of race and property, but about the nature of American democracy itself.
Prominent historians of slavery and legal scholars analyze the intricate relationship between slavery, race, and the law from the earliest Black Codes in colonial America to the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law and the Dred Scott decision prior to the Civil War. Slavery & the Law's wide-ranging essays focus on comparative slave law, auctioneering practices, rules of evidence, and property rights, as well as issues of criminality, punishment, and constitutional law.
What emerges from this multi-faceted portrait is a complex legal system designed to ensure the property rights of slave-holders and to institutionalize racism. The ultimate result was to strengthen the institution of slavery in the midst of a growing trend toward democracy in the mid-nineteenth-century Atlantic community.

Genres: Law, History

476 pages, Hardcover

First published January 28, 1997

About the author

Paul Finkelman is an American legal historian. He received his undergraduate degree in American studies from Syracuse University in 1971, and his master's degree (1972) and doctorate (1976) in American history from the University of Chicago.

Reviews

[Bookfairy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not read the entirety of this book, but I did read large sections for a class.

This is not easy reading, both in the language and history it examines, the legal happenings and ramifications, BUT I do think it's important to understand how the law has *created* the U.S. concept of race and enforced unjust policies and precedents that we still see today.

If you're interested in understanding better how the U.S. has not in fact kept it's promise to be the land of the free, this can help you understand that groundwork.

[Porter Broyles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, I consider myself a fairly intelligent individual. I completed BA's in History and Religion. I have an MBA and completed the course for a graduate level degree in history. I'm a voracious reader. Two of my areas of interest are slavery and the law, so eagerly snatched up this book when I saw it.

I say that as a preamble for what I'm about to say, this book is not written for the lay person.

The book is a collection of essays presented by various legal scholars on the subject of slavery and the law. Some of the essays are easier to read than others, but on a whole the book is targetting somebody with more of a lawyerly bent than a historical bent. Many of the sections referenced legal cases and statues assuming that you understand the concepts. Most the writing is dry and legalistic.

This book turned out to be one that I had to force myself to read because I was interested in the content. I can't say that I recommend it.