Double Character

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Double Character" is a profoundly important book. At a time when there has been much romanticization of master-slave relations, Ariela Gross dissects hundreds of antebellum legal cases in which the presumed attributes of blacks, whites, and those "in between" were litigated. What emerges is a pattern of assumptions whose power was sanctioned by law and whose legacy we battle still. A brilliant work of scholarship."--Patricia Williams, Columbia School of Law"With great clarity, Ariela Gross's book shows how intimately the practice of law in the antebellum U.S. South was interwoven with the practice of slavery. The author conveys this tragic story in terms that provide a vivid picture of that society and also of many of the individuals involved. She has successfully melded diverse approaches toward history--legal, local, social, political, economic, and cultural--while still maintaining a powerful central focus."--Winthrop D. Jordan, University of Mississippi"On the basis of trial records and other legal documents previously unused by historians, Ariela Gross has produced a superb study that adds enormously to our knowledge of the inner world of masters and slaves in the Old South. Effectively synthesizing the methods and data of legal and social history, she sheds new light on many themes central to antebellum history, such as the cult of honor, the function of racist and paternalist ideologies, and slave agency in the face of oppression."--George M. Fredrickson, Stanford University