Books by Ariela J. Gross

A study of the law and culture of slavery in the antebellum Deep South that takes readers into local courtrooms where people settled their civil disputes over property. This work sheds light on the law as a dramatic ritual in people's daily lives, and advances critical historical debates about law, honor, and commerce in the American South.

Unearthing the legal history of racial identity, Gross's book examines the paradoxical and often circular relationship of race and the perceived capacity for citizenship in American society.