Description
Book SynopsisA study of the day-to-day law and culture of slavery. It investigates the local courtrooms of the Deep South where ordinary people settled their disputes over slaves. It also seeks to explain how communities dealt with an important dilemma raised by these trials: how could slaves who acted as moral agents be treated as commodities?
Trade Review"A nuanced and elegant interpretation of antebellum Southern law."--Virginia Quarterly Review "Double Character is an exemplar of how detailed research and theoretical sophistication can be combined. Few writers are as at home as Gross with handling both large databases and complex cultural theories."--Philip Abbott, The Historian
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction 3 Chapter One: Court and Market 22 Chapter Two: Honor and Dishonor 47 Chapter Three: Slaves' Character 72 Chapter Four: Masters' Character 98 Chapter Five: Body and Mind 122 Epilogue 153 Appendix: Note on Sources and Methods 159 Notes 167 Bibliography 231 Index 251
