The bondsman's burden : an economic analysis of the common law of Southern slavery / Jenny Bourne Wahl.
1998
Items
Details
Title
The bondsman's burden : an economic analysis of the common law of Southern slavery / Jenny Bourne Wahl.
Imprint
Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Description
1 online resource (xii, 277 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).
Series
Cambridge historical studies in American law and society.
Formatted Contents Note
American slavery and the path of the law
The law of sales : slaves, animals, and commodities
The law of hiring and employment : slaves, animals, and free persons
The law regarding common carriers : slaves, animals, commodities, and free persons
The law regarding governments, government officials, slave patrollers, and overseers : protecting private property versus keeping public peace
The legal rights and responsibilities of strangers toward slaves, animals, and free persons
Treatment of one's slaves, servants, animals, and relatives : legal boundaries and the problem of social cost
The south's law of slavery : reflecting the felt necessities of the time.
The law of sales : slaves, animals, and commodities
The law of hiring and employment : slaves, animals, and free persons
The law regarding common carriers : slaves, animals, commodities, and free persons
The law regarding governments, government officials, slave patrollers, and overseers : protecting private property versus keeping public peace
The legal rights and responsibilities of strangers toward slaves, animals, and free persons
Treatment of one's slaves, servants, animals, and relatives : legal boundaries and the problem of social cost
The south's law of slavery : reflecting the felt necessities of the time.
Summary
Were slaves property or human beings under the law? In crafting answers to this question, Southern judges designed efficient laws that protected property rights and helped slavery remain economically viable. But, by preserving property rights, they sheltered the persons embodied by that property - the slaves themselves. Slave law therefore had unintended consequences: it generated rules that judges could apply to free persons, precedents that became the foundation for laws designed to protect ordinary Americans. The Bondsman's Burden, first published in 1998, provides a rigorous and compelling economic analysis of the common law of Southern slavery, inspecting thousands of legal disputes heard in Southern antebellum courts, disputes involving servants, employees, accident victims, animals, and other chattel property, as well as slaves. The common law, although it supported the institution of slavery, did not favor every individual slave owner who brought a grievance to court.
Note
Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).
Location
WWW
Available in Other Form
Print version:
Linked Resources
Alternate Title
Cambridge Core.
Language
English
ISBN
9780511528712 ebook
9780521592383 (hardback)
9780521521383 (paperback)
9780521592383 (hardback)
9780521521383 (paperback)
Record Appears in