{"product_id":"9780674040700","title":"Divided Mastery","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003ci\u003eDivided Mastery\u003c\/i\u003e explores a curiously neglected aspect of the history of American slavery: the rental of slaves. Though few slaves escaped being rented out at some point in their lives, this is the first book to describe the practice, and its effects on both slaves and the peculiar institution. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Martin reveals how the unique triangularity of slave hiring created slaves with two masters, thus transforming the customary polarity of master-slave relationships. Drawing upon slaveholders' letters, slave narratives, interviews with former slaves, legislative petitions, and court records, \u003ci\u003eDivided Mastery\u003c\/i\u003e ultimately reveals that slave hiring's significance was paradoxical. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e The practice bolstered the system of slavery by facilitating its spread into the western territories, by democratizing access to slave labor, and by promoting both production and speculation with slave capital. But at the same time, slaves used hiring to their advantage, finding in it crucial opportunities to shape their work and family lives, to bring owners and hirers into conflict with each other, and to destabilize the system of bondage. Martin illuminates the importance of the capitalist market as a tool for analyzing slavery and its extended relationships. Through its fresh and complex perspective, \u003ci\u003eDivided Mastery\u003c\/i\u003e demonstrates that slave hiring is critical to understanding the fundamental nature of American slavery, and its social, political, and economic place in the Old South. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTable of Contents: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e Introduction: Slaves with Two Masters\u003cbr\u003e 1 Slave Hiring in the Evolution of Slavery\u003cbr\u003e 2 A Blessing and a Curse\u003cbr\u003e 3 Risks and Returns\u003cbr\u003e 4 Compromised Mastery\u003cbr\u003e 5 Resistance and Abuse\u003cbr\u003e 6 Working Alone\u003cbr\u003e Epilogue \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Abbreviations\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e Index \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This finely crafted, thought-provoking study of slave hiring in the antebellum South fills a major gap in the historical literature. \u003ci\u003eDivided Mastery\u003c\/i\u003e will be of great interest to students of American slavery.\"\u003cbr\u003e--Peter Kolchin, author of \u003ci\u003eAmerican Slavery, 1619-1877\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eDivided Mastery\u003c\/i\u003e greatly extends and systematizes our knowledge of slave hiring as a practice making slavery a more economically flexible institution. Martin also writes insightfully about the emotional and psychological complexities attending the interaction of slaves, owners, and hirers. This will be the standard reference for historians interested in slave hiring, and Martin's vigorous prose style should attract a wider readership as well for this fine new book.\"\u003cbr\u003e--T. Stephen Whitman, author of \u003ci\u003eChallenging Slavery in the Chesapeake, 1775-1865\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Martin has done more than fill an important niche in understanding slavery in the American South; his work adds an appreciation of the complexity of slavery by unraveling--in fine detail--precisely how the system of slave hiring worked. It reveals how the rental of slaves at once expanded and constrained the latitude of both master and slave, at times allowing slaveholders to gain greater flexibility and profit in the employment of their human property and permitting slaves to secure greater independence and control over their own lives. \u003ci\u003eDivided Mastery\u003c\/i\u003e is a significant addition to the literature on slavery in the US.\"\u003cbr\u003e--Ira Berlin, author of Generations of Captivity: A History of African-American Slaves","brand":"Harvard University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47110943736048,"sku":"9780674040700","price":41.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780674040700_p0.jpg?v=1769857256","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780674040700","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}