Masters, Slaves, and Exchange
Power's Purchase in the Old South

This book examines the political economy of the master-slave relationship viewed through the lens of consumption and market exchange.

Kathleen M. Hilliard (Author)

9781107046467, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 December 2013

228 pages, 6 b/w illus. 12 tables
23.5 x 15.6 x 1.7 cm, 0.44 kg

'Following the pioneer work of Ulrich B. Phillips and Eugene D. Genovese on the reciprocal rights, privileges, and responsibilities that masters and slaves shared, Kathleen M. Hilliard examines the slaves' exchange economy along the Atlantic seaboard … an original and significant contribution to slave historiography.' John David Smith, North Carolina Historical Review

This book examines the political economy of the master-slave relationship viewed through the lens of consumption and market exchange. What did it mean when human chattel bought commodities, 'stole' property, or gave and received gifts? Forgotten exchanges, this study argues, measured the deepest questions of worth and value, shaping an enduring struggle for power between slaves and masters. The slaves' internal economy focused intense paternalist negotiation on a ground where categories of exchange - provision, gift, contraband, and commodity - were in constant flux. At once binding and alienating, these ties endured constant moral stresses and material manipulation by masters and slaves alike, galvanizing conflict and engendering complex new social relations on and off the plantation.

Introduction
1. Money and moralism
2. Slaves and spending
3. Servants served
4. Black markets
5. Gilt chains
6. The choice
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ], History of the Americas [HBJK], History [HB]