Black Litigants in the Antebellum American South Paperback / softback
by Kimberly M. Welch
Part of the The John Hope Franklin Series in African American History and Culture series
Paperback / softback
Description
In the antebellum Natchez district, in the heart of slave country, black people sued white people in all-white courtrooms.
They sued to enforce the terms of their contracts, recover unpaid debts, recuperate back wages, and claim damages for assault.
They sued in conflicts over property and personal status. And they often won. Based on new research conducted in courthouse basements and storage sheds in rural Mississippi and Louisiana, Kimberly Welch draws on over 1,000 examples of free and enslaved black litigants who used the courts to protect their interests and reconfigure their place in a tense society. To understand their success, Welch argues that we must understand the language that they used--the language of property, in particular--to make their claims recognizable and persuasive to others and to link their status as owner to the ideal of a free, autonomous citizen.
In telling their stories, Welch reveals a previously unknown world of black legal activity, one that is consequential for understanding the long history of race, rights, and civic inclusion in America.
Information
-
Only a few left - usually despatched within 24 hours
- Format:Paperback / softback
- Pages:328 pages, 13 halftones, 1 map
- Publisher:The University of North Carolina Press
- Publication Date:28/02/2020
- Category:
- ISBN:9781469659152
Other Formats
- PDF from £81.00
Information
-
Only a few left - usually despatched within 24 hours
- Format:Paperback / softback
- Pages:328 pages, 13 halftones, 1 map
- Publisher:The University of North Carolina Press
- Publication Date:28/02/2020
- Category:
- ISBN:9781469659152
