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. 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" “This book is a tour de force. We have nothing as comprehensive and valuable in the literature of slavery and the law in the United States.” ― American Historical Review A comprehensive history of the evolving relationship between American slavery and the law from colonial times to the Civil War. A comprehensive history of the evolving relationship between American slavery and the law from colonial times to the Civil War. Thomas D. Morris, professor of history at Portland State University, is author of Free Men All: The Personal Liberty Laws of the North, 1780–1861 . Used Book in Good Condition