The Demands of Justice

"Less a legal history and more an examination of gender, race, crime, and punishment in the antebellum era, Nunley's book measures the limits and possibilities of justice for enslaved women accused of attempting to or succeeding in committing grave crimes against their owners. Immersing herself in hundreds of court cases, executive orders, transportation records of the state treasury, and newspapers from a single state - Virginia - Tamika Nunley has unearthed the stories of enslaved women charged by their owners with poisoning, theft, murder, infanticide, and arson"--