Description
Book SynopsisIn 1843, the Louisiana Supreme Court heard the case of a slave named Sally Miller, who claimed to have been born a free white person in Germany. This book explores this legal case and its reflection on broader questions about race, society, and law in the antebellum South.
Trade ReviewThis book is an original and provocative exploration of a purported case of mistaken identity. Wilson offers a unique look at questions of racial identity under the law in the early republic. -- Timothy S. Huebner * author of The Southern Judicial Tradition: State Judges and Sectional Distincti *
In this carefully researched volume Wilson deftly deals with all aspects of a case that challenged 'both the Louisiana legal system and white southerners' notions of race." Chapters illuminate antebellum New Orleans, the redemptioner system and German immigration, the complicated legal code in Louisiana, and the question of white slavery and its use by abolitionists and authors ... Wilson also provides original insights on the meaning of race and gender in the antebellum South and their impact on the case. -- Matthew Mason * Journal of Southern History *
Table of ContentsIntroduction : The discovery of Salomé Muller
A slave sues her master
The Mullers of Alsace
New Orleans
Germans and redemptioners
Sally and John Miller
Sally and Louis Belmonti
From Black to White
White slavery
Sally Miller and Salomé Muller
Conclusion
