41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
fascinating historical fact with some necessary fictional ex, November 28, 2004
This is a fascinating story in its own right, and a horrifying account of what slavery was like on a day-to-day basis for the people who lived with it in the Mississippi area. It's the little details the author gives that bring home how degrading the institution was for slaves and slave owners alike. Surprisingly the author is an Australian lawyer, I bought and read the book in paperback in Australia, but his research in the US has been meticulous. He has had to use fiction to fill in parts of the slave girl's story but this enhances rather than detracts from the overall narrative. I highly recommend it, very suitable for the thinking person's Christmas stocking!
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34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Slavery in the South exposed in a new manner in this fascinating true story, August 6, 2005
You know, I thought this would be an incredibly dry book, especially having read the introduction in which the author, Bailey, talks about how he came across it. He was researching the minutiae of slave law in the South at the time. What rights did they have, did slaves ever bring cases against their masters etc....then he came across the most intriguing story - that of a slave girl, Sally Miller - who may - or may not have been Salome Muller - a lost German migrant who was bonded with her father into work to pay for her passage from Europe to America.
Sally Miller was the spitting image of Salome Muller's mother who died on the voyage to America, and her Muller Aunt insisted that she had the birthmarks which Salome had, all her friends and relatives were also convinced. However Miller had been sold as a slave to a master who would not release her, in order for her to assume her new life with her family she had to be formally proved to be Salome Muller and therefore not able to be taken back into slavery again - and so began a vitriolic court case.
The real strength of this book is that it is actually not Dry at all. Bailey points out the weaknesses in his book early on - that there are not written records for some of it, and where these don't exist he has made guesses at what happened in between based on the outcome
What I found ultimately the most fascinating is that this exposes the strengths and weaknesses of the slavery system in the South compared to the North (neither of which I will point out right now was ideal!) however the information on legal rights they had available is enormously fascinating - in some cases Slaves did have the right to legal redress, if accused of murder etc - although the author is at pains to point out it very much depended on the Judge available.
This is also enormously interesting for the depth of research into the migrants from Europe to America in this period, many of whom were fraudulently stripped of their assets before even arriving in America - and arrived in America in the early nineteenth century to be sold into bonded service.
What really astounded me in this book, and seems obvious now in retrospect is that so many slaves in America could actually pass for Whites. They were, of course, the product of many generations of interbreeding with their masters or white men. This was for the most part reluctant, but it meant that after a few generations some slaves looked as white as the masters they served - notices of runaway slaves often indicated that they could easily pass as white.
I think those who enjoy Regency history (although it is a later period being actually mid nineteenth century mostly) or those who enjoyed the Tichborne Claimant - a British court case involving a man who was proved to be a Charlatan, will enjoy reading this as well - if you haven't heard of the Tichborne claimant I recommend reading about it after this.
As a history of America this is extraordinary - it is a small part of the history, but I guarantee you will come away from it understanding an enormous amount more. It is also extremely well written. I found it a real page turner, and it kept me gripped to the last page - read it and be amazed.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Alternate Universe, July 2, 2005
This is a great read.
Baily gives us a story worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster - a story about a young orphan German girl sold into slavery and the legal efforts made by New Orlean's German community to set her free. The story has many exciting twists and turns.
As good as the story is is Baily's account of Louisiana's case law concerning slaves and redemptioners (indentured whites). The law is familiar and strange. Familiar because we know the legal procedures; strange because the law we learn about treats people as property.
Highly recommended!
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