The Lost German Slave Girl

[matthew mckeon]

About halfway through this book.

1844 case in New Orleans about a woman, either Salome Muller, Sally Miller, Mary Miller or Bridget(all names she was given at different times), who was held as a slave, but sued for freedom, claiming she was a "pure German" taken into slavery when her immigrant parents died.

Good description of antebellum New Orleans("least American city in America"), the strange mix of race and immigrants, and the regulation and laws governing slaves and masters. Worth a read.

[samgrant]

Matt, are you a speedreader?

Everytime I turn around you are halfway thru another book!

I'm just starting Russel Beatie's 1st volume of his Army of the Potomac series. I've got the 1st 3 volumes. These 3 cover November 1860 thru May 1862, so I'll probably be dead by the time he gets to Appomattox.

-

[matthew mckeon]

Finished the "German Slave Girl."

It's written like a courtroom thriller. Is she a mulatto grasping for one chance of freedom? An abandoned immigrant orphan sold into slavery? The trial, the first appeal, the 2nd appeal, the lawsuit...it's a ride. Her staunch German defenders, the ambitious obnoxious yankee lawyer taking her part, the genial lawyer for her former owners(he had once been retained by Jean Lefitte, and lost 20,000 dollars gambling with the gentleman-pirate), testimony with witnesses, judges and lawyers shifting from English to French to German, Napoleonic Code to English common law, and finally, the blind Louisiana Supreme Court justice who renders a crucial decision--wait a minute: the levee bursts during the verdict!

You can't make this stuff up.

Besides entertainment, there is a nice portrait of antebellum New Orleans, and a some interesting info about the legal status of slaves, and free persons of color.

Nastiest fact: When laws were written establishing categories of crimes, rape of a woman was once, rape of a child was another: but the lawmakers deliberately excluded slave children. Raping a child you owned was perfectly legal.

Nicest fact: Even though the woman in question was very poor and a slave, witnesses, juries and judges were all apparently trying their best to be accurate, fair and just.

By the way, I'm not a speed reader, but I do read fairly quickly, sometimes a little too fast, and I miss things. I'm on vacation now, and have time to burn through stuff. Both the McPherson book and The Lost German Slave Girl are fairly short volumes too.