The Claims of Kinfolk

“Provides a provocative analysis of African-American property. . . . Breaks new ground and enlivens old debates. . . . Will require historians to rethink their assumptions about the social and economic history of the South and African Americans in the nineteenth century.” — Georgia Historical Quarterly

“An original study that will have a significant influence on future scholarship.” — Journal of American History

“An important new look at the economic framework of slavery and the transition to freedom.” — Historian

“Penningroth applies an intellectual framework laden with insights gleaned from African Studies and anthropology, making this book an ambitious exercise in interdisciplinary scholarship and comparative history.” — American Historical Review

“Moving beyond the generalities that have plagued historians' understanding of both African societies and African American history, Dylan C. Penningroth crafts a significant contribution to the literature on nineteenth-century black life in the United States. Fusing an African Studies approach with an innovative method for understanding the complexities of black families, communities, and social relations, Penningroth’s ##Claims of Kinfolk# is an excellent model for social historians to follow.” — Journal of Social History

“An imaginative analysis that enables [Penningroth] to go beyond the existence of the informal economy to probe the ways it shaped black life during and after slavery. . . . An important volume, one that is unusually broad in scope and significant for a first book. It deserves wide readership.” — Agricultural History

“Penningroth makes important contributions to our understanding of the slaves' informal economy. . . . [A] stimulating study.” — Journal of Southern History

“This fine work of scholarship challenges and complicates notions about slavery, reminding us of the diversity and resilience of the people subject to its debilitating effects.” — Maryland Historical Magazine

“Specialists in African American studies will greatly appreciate this provocative study of property holding among enslaved African Americans.” — Journal of African American History

“In The Claims of Kinfolk, Penningroth offers a path-breaking account of slave property ownership, raising provocative questions about the status of enslaved men and women in the nineteenth-century American South. . . . Penningroth’s book opens a variety of prospective areas for additional research, and his innovative use of methods from outside fields provides a model for future interdisciplinary investigations.” — H-Law