• 1. American slavery and the path of the law; 2. The law of sales: slaves, animals, and commodities; 3. The law of hiring and employment: slaves, animals, and free persons; 4. The law regarding common carriers: slaves, animals, commodities, and free persons; 5. The law regarding governments, government officials, slave patrollers, and overseers: protecting private property versus keeping public peace; 6. The legal rights and responsibilities of strangers toward slaves, animals, and free persons; 7. Treatment of one's slaves, servants, animals, and relatives: legal boundaries and the problem of social cost; 8. The south's law of slavery: reflecting the felt necessities of the time.

"In The Bondsman's Burden, Jenny Wahl provides and insightful look at the antebellum South's legal system and how southern judges fashioned a jurisprudence of slavery vital to preserving the economic vitality of the institution. In affording this insight, Wahl also supplies an important look at the role of legal rules in the development and maintenance of economic institutions and processes." William and Mary Quarterly