Jefferson’s Freeholders and the Politics of Ownership in the Old Dominion

Research output: Book, anthology, or reportBookpeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Jefferson's Freeholders explores the historical processes by which Virginia was transformed from a British colony into a Southern slave state. It focuses on changing conceptualizations of ownership and emphasizes the persistent influence of the English common law on Virginia's postcolonial political culture. The book explains how the traditional characteristics of land tenure became subverted by the dynamic contractual relations of a commercial economy and assesses the political consequences of the law reforms that were necessitated by these developments. Nineteenth-century reforms seeking to reconcile the common law with modern commercial practices embraced new democratic expressions about the economic and political power of labor, and thereby encouraged the idea that slavery was an essential element in sustaining republican government in Virginia. By the 1850s, the ownership of human property had replaced the ownership of land as the distinguishing basis for political power with tragic consequences for the Old Dominion.
Original languageAmerican English
PublisherCambridge University Press
Number of pages255
ISBN (Print)978-1-107-01740-5
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2012

Publication series

NameCambridge Studies of the American South

Keywords

  • American History: General Interest
  • Early Republic and Antebellum History
  • History
  • Law
  • Legal History

DC Disciplines

  • History

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Jefferson’s Freeholders and the Politics of Ownership in the Old Dominion'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this