Awarded the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in History: a bold and shocking investigation into the role of white women in America's slave economy.

“Stunning.”—Rebecca Onion, Slate

“Makes a vital contribution to our understanding of the past and present.”—Parul Sehgal, New York Times

“Subversive. . . . [An] impressive correction.”—Nicholas Guyatt, New York Review of Books

Bridging women's history, Southern history, and African American history, this book makes a bold claim about the role of white women in American slavery. Historian Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers draws from a variety of sources to show that women slave owners were savvy economic forces who directly participated in and benefited from the Southern slave market.

Since women typically inherited more slaves than land, slaves became their primary source of wealth. Not only did white women often refuse to give up ownership of their slaves to their husbands, but they used management techniques that were as effective and brutal as those used by male slaveholders. White women actively participated in the slave market, profited from it, and used it for economic and social empowerment. Examining the economically entwined lives of slaves and the women who owned them, Jones-Rogers presents a narrative that forces us to rethink the economies and social conventions of American slavery.

Pages: 320, Publication Year: 2021, Dimensions: 15.6x15.6cm