Title Only the clothes on her back : clothing and the hidden history of power in the nineteenth-century United States / Laura F. Edwards

Published New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2022] ©2022

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Description 1 online resource (457 pages) : illustrations Contents Polly's yarn : legal principles -- Roger Taney's long underwear : federalism -- Mr. Robinson's fabrics : merchants -- Rebecca Coles' factory : manufacturers -- The prison society's problem : currency -- Jane Cooley's loom : Capital -- Margaret Ten Eyck's accounts : credit -- Eliza Cauchois's shift : exchange -- Sarah Allingham's sheet : enforcement -- Catherine Brennan's Haul : criminality -- Charles Lohman's dresses : suppression -- Mrs. Harris's marriage : erasure. conclusion -- Mrs. Lincoln's old clothes : just material Summary "Only the Clothes on Her Back tells the history of law and commerce in the United States between the Revolution and the Civil War through textiles and the legal principles associated with them. Those principles existed not in statutes or treatises, but in social and cultural practices, commonly known then, but now long forgotten, which made textiles--clothing, cloth, bedding, and accessories, such as shoes and hats--a unique form of property that people without rights could own and exchange. Textiles' value depended on law, which was what made them a secure form of property for marginalized people, who not only used these goods as currency, credit, and capital, but also as entre into the new republic's economy and governing institutions. Using original archival research, the first part of the book reconstructs the governing order in which textiles' legal principles flourished and follows the implications, recasting our understanding of production and exchange. The second part pieces together the rules that governed trade: trunks established ownership; witness testimony served instead of receipts; accounts were kept in diaries, if they were recorded at all. These practices might seem outside law, but they were not. The third part follows the legal downfall of textiles, showing how the practices associated with them became suspect as the federalism system elevated the possession of rights over other means of making property claims. By the mid--nineteenth century, textiles no longer had the legal power they once had, but most Americans had nothing to replace them"--Publisher's description Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Online resource; title from home title page (viewed on August 25, 2022) Subject Property -- United States -- History -- 19th century Textile fabrics -- Social aspects -- United States -- History -- 19th century Textile industry -- Law and legislation -- United States Women -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- United States -- History -- 19th century African Americans -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- History -- 19th century Poor laws -- United States -- History -- 19th century Law -- Political aspects -- United States -- History -- 19th century Equality before the law -- United States -- History -- 19th century Clothing and dress -- Social aspects -- United States -- History -- 19th century Clothing and dress -- Social aspects African Americans -- Legal status, laws, etc. Equality before the law Law -- Political aspects Poor laws Property Textile fabrics -- Social aspects Textile industry -- Law and legislation Women -- Legal status, laws, etc. United States Genre/Form Electronic books History Form Electronic book ISBN 0197568599 9780197568606 0197568602 9780197568583 0197568580 9780197568590

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