Slavery in the American South could not have existed without the authority of law defining slaves as the property of their masters. But the fact that slaves were also human beings placed limits on this harsh reality. When the rigor of the law and the complex bonds of sentiment linking master and slave came into conflict; masters looked to the courts. In one such case; State v. Mann; North Carolina Supreme Court justice Thomas Ruffin ruled that masters could not be prosecuted for assaulting their slaves. In articulating the legal basis for his decision; Justice Ruffin also revealed his own view of the "logic of slavery;" in which he sanctioned the owner's rights even as he expressed his own horror at the mistreatment of the slave. Legal historian Mark Tushnet; one of the foremost living authorities on antebellum slave law; now shows how studying such a simple case can illuminate an entire society. For those who detested slavery; the case represented all that was intolerable about that institution; for those who defended it; it raised vexing and persistent issues that could not be wished away. As further testament to the importance of State v. Mann; Harriet Beecher Stowe even made it central to her second antislavery novel; Dred. Tushnet discusses the opinion's place in the novel—in which she quoted liberally from Ruffin's decision—and evaluates other historians' interpretations of both the opinion and Stowe's provocative novel.Tushnet provides a finely detailed analysis of Ruffin's opinion; portraying the judge as a man compelled by law to uphold the slave-owner's right while moved as a Christian by the slave's maltreatment and ever hopeful that communal morality and a deep-seated sense of honor would moderate the excesses of slave owners. As Tushnet shows; however; slave law was a means for maintaining the ideological hegemony of the Southern master class. Slave Law in the American South paints a broad picture of a landmark case; tying together legal; historical; social; political; and even literary strands to show how the law itself was implicated in the persistence of slavery. It sheds new light on slavery and Southern history; as it probes the conscience of a troubled jurist incapable of fully transcending his times.
#712934 in Books Wiley Sword 1993-10-18Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.39 x 1.05 x 6.29l; 1.67 #File Name: 0700606505528 pagesThe Confederacy s Last Hurrah Spring Hill Franklin and Nashville
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Yes Read itBy J. AdkinsVery well written. I lost many hours of sleep due to this book. Very revealing account of the Franklin battle. Not known to many people and widely overlooked this is a must for all Civil War enthusiasts.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Hood was a Confederate general who had bad luck from Gettysburg onBy Emanuel KandilakisHood was a Confederate general who had bad luck from Gettysburg on. He kept making bad decisions through out the war. Sherman once said at the Battle of Atlanta " I'm so glad that Johnson was removed for Hood." We will take Atlanta.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy JimWithout a doubt; one of the most enjoyable reads of the western theater at war's end.
