Black Litigants in the Antebellum American South
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...
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| Format: | Online |
| Idioma: | anglès |
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The University of North Carolina Press
2025
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| Accés en línia: | ONIX_20250128_9798890853905_5 |
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| _version_ | 1869527060070793216 |
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| author | Welch, Kimberly M. |
| author_browse | Welch, Kimberly M. |
| author_facet | Welch, Kimberly M. |
| author_sort | Welch, Kimberly M. |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| 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. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-152046 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | The University of North Carolina Press |
| publisherStr | The University of North Carolina Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1520462025-07-21T15:44:45Z Black Litigants in the Antebellum American South Welch, Kimberly M. Black litigants free black litigants enslaved litigants American legal history slavery in Louisiana slavery in Mississippi African Americans and the courts African Americans and the law African Americans and the civil courts free blacks and property rights slaves and freedom suits Natchez district lower Mississippi Valley claims-making of African Americans long civil rights movement property rights as civil rights black citizenship race and law black legal culture legal culture of the American South slavery and the law William Johnson the Belly family Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana Iberville Parish, Louisiana Adams County, Mississippi Claiborne County, Mississippi Natchez, Mississippi civic inclusion thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies thema EDItEUR::L Law::LN Laws of specific jurisdictions and specific areas of law::LNA Legal systems: general::LNAC Legal systems: civil procedure, litigation and dispute resolution thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHK History of the Americas thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies thema EDItEUR::L Law::LN Laws of specific jurisdictions and specific areas of law::LNA Legal systems: general::LNAC Legal systems: civil procedure, litigation and dispute resolution thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHK History of the Americas 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. 2025-02-17T05:44:44Z 2025-02-17T05:44:44Z 2025-01-28T11:30:47Z 2018 book ONIX_20250128_9798890853905_5 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/98049 9798890853905 9781469636467 9798890853899 9781469659152 9781469636450 9781469636436 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/152046 eng open access image/png Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/98049/2/9781469636467.epub The University of North Carolina Press University of South Carolina Press University of North Carolina Press 10.5149/9781469636467_Welch 10.5149/9781469636467_Welch f46e5319-8d09-4c63-b9f2-a13480694ab4 4a154a96-4e84-4b2b-8cae-b383b6ddde34 9798890853905 9781469636467 9798890853899 9781469659152 9781469636450 9781469636436 University of North Carolina Press 328 Chapel Hill open access |
| spellingShingle | Black litigants free black litigants enslaved litigants American legal history slavery in Louisiana slavery in Mississippi African Americans and the courts African Americans and the law African Americans and the civil courts free blacks and property rights slaves and freedom suits Natchez district lower Mississippi Valley claims-making of African Americans long civil rights movement property rights as civil rights black citizenship race and law black legal culture legal culture of the American South slavery and the law William Johnson the Belly family Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana Iberville Parish, Louisiana Adams County, Mississippi Claiborne County, Mississippi Natchez, Mississippi civic inclusion thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies thema EDItEUR::L Law::LN Laws of specific jurisdictions and specific areas of law::LNA Legal systems: general::LNAC Legal systems: civil procedure, litigation and dispute resolution thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHK History of the Americas thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies thema EDItEUR::L Law::LN Laws of specific jurisdictions and specific areas of law::LNA Legal systems: general::LNAC Legal systems: civil procedure, litigation and dispute resolution thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHK History of the Americas Welch, Kimberly M. Black Litigants in the Antebellum American South |
| title | Black Litigants in the Antebellum American South |
| title_full | Black Litigants in the Antebellum American South |
| title_fullStr | Black Litigants in the Antebellum American South |
| title_full_unstemmed | Black Litigants in the Antebellum American South |
| title_short | Black Litigants in the Antebellum American South |
| title_sort | black litigants in the antebellum american south |
| topic | Black litigants free black litigants enslaved litigants American legal history slavery in Louisiana slavery in Mississippi African Americans and the courts African Americans and the law African Americans and the civil courts free blacks and property rights slaves and freedom suits Natchez district lower Mississippi Valley claims-making of African Americans long civil rights movement property rights as civil rights black citizenship race and law black legal culture legal culture of the American South slavery and the law William Johnson the Belly family Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana Iberville Parish, Louisiana Adams County, Mississippi Claiborne County, Mississippi Natchez, Mississippi civic inclusion thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies thema EDItEUR::L Law::LN Laws of specific jurisdictions and specific areas of law::LNA Legal systems: general::LNAC Legal systems: civil procedure, litigation and dispute resolution thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHK History of the Americas thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies thema EDItEUR::L Law::LN Laws of specific jurisdictions and specific areas of law::LNA Legal systems: general::LNAC Legal systems: civil procedure, litigation and dispute resolution thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHK History of the Americas |
| topic_facet | Black litigants free black litigants enslaved litigants American legal history slavery in Louisiana slavery in Mississippi African Americans and the courts African Americans and the law African Americans and the civil courts free blacks and property rights slaves and freedom suits Natchez district lower Mississippi Valley claims-making of African Americans long civil rights movement property rights as civil rights black citizenship race and law black legal culture legal culture of the American South slavery and the law William Johnson the Belly family Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana Iberville Parish, Louisiana Adams County, Mississippi Claiborne County, Mississippi Natchez, Mississippi civic inclusion thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies thema EDItEUR::L Law::LN Laws of specific jurisdictions and specific areas of law::LNA Legal systems: general::LNAC Legal systems: civil procedure, litigation and dispute resolution thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHK History of the Americas thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies thema EDItEUR::L Law::LN Laws of specific jurisdictions and specific areas of law::LNA Legal systems: general::LNAC Legal systems: civil procedure, litigation and dispute resolution thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHK History of the Americas |
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