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

by Jenny B. Wahl

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521521386
• ISBN13: 9780521521383
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 292 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.7" x 8.5"