Overview

The Confederate States of America was born in defense of slavery. Between Fort Sumter to Appomattox, Confederates bought and sold thousands African American men, women, and children. These transactions in humanity made the internal slave trade a cornerstone of Confederate society, a bulwark of the Rebel economy, and a central part of the experience of the Civil War for all inhabiting the American South. As An Unholy Traffic shows, slave trading helped Southerners survive and fight the Civil War, as well as to build the future for which they fought. They mitigated the crises the war spawned by buying and selling enslaved people, using this commerce to navigate food shortages, unsettled gender roles, the demands of military service, and other hardships on the homefront. Some Rebels speculated wildly in human property, investing in slaves to ward off inflation and to buy shares in the slaveholding nation they hoped to create. Others traded people to counter the advance of emancipation. Offering an original perspective on the intersections of slavery, capitalism, the Civil War, and emancipation, Robert K. D. Colby illuminates the place of the peculiar institution within the Confederate mind, the ways in which it underpinned the CSA's war effort, and its impact on those attempting to seize their freedom.

Full Product Details

9798874760168

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Robert K. D. Colby is an assistant professor of history at the University of Mississippi. His research on the domestic slave trade has won multiple awards, including the Allan Nevins Prize of the Society of American Historians. Born and bred in the USA, James R. Cheatham has literally been around the world and back again. James is a retired military veteran, and has been to war four times. Now, he narrates audiobooks full time. He started back in 2018 with some divine direction, and is absolutely loving it.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available