Divided Mastery: Slave Hiring in the American South

by Jonathan D. Martin

Overview

Divided Mastery 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.

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, Divided Mastery ultimately reveals that slave hiring's significance was paradoxical.

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, Divided Mastery 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674040700
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	07/01/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	247
File size:	441 KB

About the Author

Jonathan D. Martin is an attorney in private practice.

Table of Contents

Contents Introduction: Slaves with Two Masters 1. Slave Hiring in the Evolution of Slavery 2. A Blessing and a Curse 3. Risks and Returns 4. Compromised Mastery 5. Resistance and Abuse 6. Working Alone Epilogue Abbreviations Notes Acknowledgments Index

What People are Saying About This

"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. Divided Mastery is a significant addition to the literature on slavery in the US."

Ira Berlin

"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. Divided Mastery is a significant addition to the literature on slavery in the US."
— Ira Berlin, author of Generations of Captivity: A History of African-American Slaves

T. Stephen Whitman

"Divided Mastery 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."
— T. Stephen Whitman, author of Challenging Slavery in the Chesapeake, 1775-1865

Peter Kolchin

"This finely crafted, thought-provoking study of slave hiring in the antebellum South fills a major gap in the historical literature. Divided Mastery will be of great interest to students of American slavery."
— Peter Kolchin, author of American Slavery, 1619-1877

Editorial Reviews

[Martin's] book details the unique features of the practice, and in doing so provides a valuable reference for understanding this component of slavery.

Journal of American Ethnic History - Keith C. Barton

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. Divided Mastery is a significant addition to the literature on slavery in the U.S.

Ira Berlin

In the past three decades, historians of the American South have produced a body of acclaimed literature that has redefined our understanding of slavery and southern culture. Until now, however, there has been no recent in-depth analysis of slave hiring. Jonathan Martin’s Divided Mastery is an important effort to fill this void.

Georgia Historical Quarterly - Christopher J. Olsen

Historians have long recognized that slave hiring afforded masters various degrees of elasticity, adaptability, and flexibility in managing, ordering, and utilizing their bondsmen. Examining closely the rental of slaves from the perspectives of masters, slaves, and hirers, Martin underscores the ubiquity of slave hiring and how the practice both fostered and undermined slaveholding in the Old South...This well-researched study fills an important niche in slave historiography.

Choice - J. D. Smith

Divided Mastery 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.

T. Stephen Whitman

This finely crafted, thought-provoking study of slave hiring in the antebellum South fills a major gap in the historical literature. Divided Mastery will be of great interest to students of American slavery.

Peter Kolchin

In the past three decades, historians of the American South have produced a body of acclaimed literature that has redefined our understanding of slavery and southern culture. Until now, however, there has been no recent in-depth analysis of slave hiring. Jonathan Martin's Divided Master is an important effort to fill this void.
— Christopher J. Olsen

Georgia Historical Quarterly

[Martin's] book details the unique features of the practice, and in doing so provides a valuable reference for understanding this component of slavery.
— Keith C. Barton

Journal of American Ethnic History

Historians have long recognized that slave hiring afforded masters various degrees of elasticity, adaptability, and flexibility in managing, ordering, and utilizing their bondsmen. Examining closely the rental of slaves from the perspectives of masters, slaves, and hirers, Martin underscores the ubiquity of slave hiring and how the practice both fostered and undermined slaveholding in the Old South...This well-researched study fills an important niche in slave historiography.
— J. D. Smith

Choice