| Black Litigants in the Antebellum American South Contributor(s): Welch, Kimberly M. (Author) |
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ISBN: 1469659158 ISBN-13: 9781469659152 Publisher: University of North Carolina Press OUR PRICE: $30.88 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: February 2020 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | African American - Law | Legal History - History | United States - State & Local - South (al,ar,fl,ga,ky,la,ms,nc,sc,tn,va,wv) |
| Dewey: 305.896 |
| LCCN: 2017026939 |
| Series: The John Hope Franklin African American History and Culture |
| Physical Information: 0.73" H x 6.14" W x 9.21" (1.10 lbs) 328 pages |
| Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - African American - Chronological Period - 19th Century - Cultural Region - South - Topical - Black History - Cultural Region - Deep South - Cultural Region - Mid-South - Geographic Orientation - Louisiana - Cultural Region - Southeast U.S. - Geographic Orientation - Mississippi |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher 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. |
Contributor Bio(s): Welch, Kimberly M.: - Kimberly M. Welch is assistant professor of history and law at Vanderbilt University. |