This book examines the political economy of the master-slave relationship viewed through the lens of consumption and market exchange.

Kathleen M. Hilliard is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Iowa State University. She received her BA from Wake Forest University and her PhD from the University of South Carolina, where she worked under the direction of Mark M. Smith and won the Wienefeld Award for the best dissertation in history. Since 2006 she has studied and taught about the Old South, slavery, and the social and cultural contradictions of antebellum America at the University of Idaho and Iowa State University. Portions of her work have been published in major essay collections and presented in scholarly meetings in the United States, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom. She has served on the Editorial Board for Agricultural History and Gale/Cengage's 'Slavery and Anti-Slavery' digital history project.

Introduction; 1. Money and moralism; 2. Slaves and spending; 3. Servants served; 4. Black markets; 5. Gilt chains; 6. The choice; Conclusion.