Unfree Markets

Caitlin Rosenthal, author of Accounting for Slavery: Masters and Management:
A rich study of an important and understudied topic. Unfree Markets illuminates the many ways enslaved people participated in the expanding markets of early America. Justene Hill Edwards brings new insights to our understanding of how markets changed enslaved people's day-to-day economic lives, never losing sight of the profound ways that these same markets continued to undermine their freedom.

Erica Armstrong Dunbar, author of Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge:
Centering enslaved men, women, and children as actors on the grand stage of South Carolina’s economy, Hill Edwards demonstrates that the entrepreneurial enterprises of the enslaved did not undermine the institution of bondage but instead reinforced it. Beautifully written and researched, Unfree Markets is a welcome addition to the history of African Americans and capitalism.