Jefferson's freeholders and the politics of ownership in the Old Dominion

Jefferson's Freeholders and the Politics of Ownership in the Old Dominion 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...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Curtis, Christopher Michael
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Cambridge Cambridge University Press 2012
Series:Cambridge studies on the American South
Subjects:
Online Access:
Collection: Cambridge Books Online - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
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246 3 1 |a Jefferson's Freeholders & the Politics of Ownership in the Old Dominion 
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300 |a xiii, 255 pages  |b digital 
505 0 |a The tragedy of ownership -- Taking notice of an error -- The chosen people of God -- An invidious and anti-Republican test -- Can these be the sons of their fathers? -- Doubt seems to have arisen -- A new system of jurisprudence -- The reaction against allodial ownership 
651 4 |a Virginia / Politics and government / 1775-1865 
651 4 |a Virginia / Economic conditions / 19th century 
653 |a Slavery / Political aspects / Virginia / History / 19th century 
653 |a Slaveholders / Political activity / Virginia / History / 19th century 
653 |a Land tenure / Political aspects / Virginia / History / 19th century 
653 |a Common law / Virginia / History / 19th century 
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490 0 |a Cambridge studies on the American South 
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520 |a Jefferson's Freeholders and the Politics of Ownership in the Old Dominion 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