Slavery on the Economic and Legal Fringes in 19th-Century America

This panel examines how both slaveholders and the enslaved attempted to navigate the increasingly sophisticated economic system that was evolving during the early American republic by exploiting the outer bounds of accepted practices. People adapted legal instruments such as debt and labor contracts to fit the unique needs of a slave society. Enslaved men and women embraced the form and power of contractual agreements despite their lack of legal enforceability. Manufacturers found new ways to squeeze profits from debtors through convict leasing. And banks recovered the enslaved property of runaway debtors, and actively engaged with the domestic slave trade. This panel demonstrate the willingness and capacity of white and black southerners to adapt in a shifting economic landscape.