First Page
1455
Abstract
This volume of essays generated by a February 1983 conference at the University of Southern Mississippi represents a major step in the advancement of the legal history of the South.' Not only does the collection raise challenging questions concerning the history of law in the South, but it also presents outstanding examples of what can be accomplished when legal historians turn their attention to this region and the states that comprise it. Covering abroad geographical and topical range in individualistic fashion, the essays are, for the most part, well researched and written with clarity and style. This Review will address each of the four categories of essays chosen by the editors in structuring the work...
Taken as a whole, these essays demonstrate the rich lode of new viewpoints available to historians who explore the causal relationships between law and economics. Attention to Southern law must address the region's interrelated dependence upon agriculture and the institution of slavery. As Lawrence Friedman points out, however, studying the South will give us a new perspective on the national scene. Additionally, although legal scholars have studied law and economics in the post-War South for several years,they certainly would profit by applying these techniques directly to the history of law in all of the United States.
Recommended Citation
Herbert A. Johnson,
Ambivalent Legacy: A Legal History of the South,
37 Vanderbilt Law Review
1455
(1984)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vlr/vol37/iss6/6