Southern Slavery and the Law, 1619-1860 - (Studies in Legal History) by Thomas D Morris (Paperback)

About the Book

A comprehensive history of the evolving relationship between American slavery and the law from colonial times to the Civil War. (Please see cloth edition, published 2/96).

Book Synopsis

This volume is the first comprehensive history of the evolving relationship between American slavery and the law from colonial times to the Civil War. As Thomas Morris clearly shows, racial slavery came to the English colonies as an institution without strict legal definitions or guidelines. Specifically, he demonstrates that there was no coherent body of law that dealt solely with slaves. Instead, more general legal rules concerning inheritance, mortgages, and transfers of property coexisted with laws pertaining only to slaves. According to Morris, southern lawmakers and judges struggled to reconcile a social order based on slavery with existing English common law (or, in Louisiana, with continental civil law.) Because much was left to local interpretation, laws varied between and even within states. In addition, legal doctrine often differed from local practice. And, as Morris reveals, in the decades leading up to the Civil War, tensions mounted between the legal culture of racial slavery and the competing demands of capitalism and evangelical Christianity.

From the Back Cover

This volume is the first comprehensive history of the evolving relationship between American slavery and the law from colonial times to the Civil War. As Thomas Morris clearly shows, racial slavery came to the English colonies as an institution without strict legal definitions or guidelines. Therefore, laws governing slaves and slavery had to be incorporated into the body of English common law that formed the basis of legal culture throughout the colonial South. Specifically, Morris demonstrates that there was no coherent body of law that dealt solely with slaves. Instead, more general legal rules concerning inheritance, mortgages, and transfers of property coexisted with laws pertaining only to slaves. According to Morris, southern lawmakers and judges struggled to reconcile a social order based on slavery with existing English common law (or, in Louisiana, with continental civil law). Because much was left to local interpretation, laws varied between and even within states. In addition, legal doctrine often differed from local practice. And, as Morris reveals, in the decades leading up to the Civil War, tensions mounted between the legal culture of racial slavery and the competing demands of capitalism and evangelical Christianity. Using a wide range of published and unpublished legal records from fifty countries and parishes, Morris offers a detailed and systematic analysis of cases as a means of establishing both what the doctrines concerning slavery were and how they were implemented.

Review Quotes

Brimming with knowledge and insight about a horrific aspect of our legal culture that continues to affect us.

"Washington Post Book World"

One of the most impressive and thoughtful volumes on slavery in the last twenty years.

"History: Reviews of New Books"

One of the most significant works on Southern slave law.

"Law and Politics Book Review"

The fullest and most probing explication to date of the policies and practices of the 'laws' of slavery.

"Historian"

This fine book is now the standard work concerning the legal history of slavery in the United States.

"Journal of Southern History"