The invention of free labor : the employment relation in English and American law and culture, 1350-1870 /

Examining the emergence of the modern conception of free labor, labor that could not be legally compelled, even though voluntarily agreed upon, Steinfeld explains how English law dominated the early American colonies, making violation of labor agreements punishable by imprisonment. By the eighteenth...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Steinfeld, Robert J.
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, [1991]
Series:Studies in legal history.
Subjects:
Online Access:Table of contents
Description
Summary:Examining the emergence of the modern conception of free labor, labor that could not be legally compelled, even though voluntarily agreed upon, Steinfeld explains how English law dominated the early American colonies, making violation of labor agreements punishable by imprisonment. By the eighteenth century, traditional legal restrictions no longer applied to many kinds of colonial workers, but it was not until the nineteenth century that indentured servitude came to be regarded as similar to slavery.
Physical Description:viii, 277 pages ; 24 cm.
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:0807819883
9780807819883
0807854522
9780807854525