They Were Her Property

A bold and searing investigation into the role of white women in the American slave economy.

Slavery is often seen as something masculine, but this very well researched book shows that women were just as involved as men. They were owners, sellers and traders, who profited financially from slavery. And not just financially, their social status was higher too. To support subjugation of black people, white women were obviously placed in a position where men did not have the control over them that is seen as common in those days. And with financial power, they have more social power.  Like the book says, white women were not passive bystanders, they were co-conspirators. 

This is an important book in a much-overlooked topic. All too often in historical writing we see white women being given a free pass when it comes to their culpability for the horrors of slavery. This book seeks to set the record straight and change our assumptions about antebellum women slave-owners.