Moses, Muhammad and Their Laws in Transatlantic Slave History: From West African Captivity to the American Cotton Kingdom, 1440-1830

This book engages the way Christian, Jewish, Muslim and secular-progressivist actors used Mosaic and Islamic law and ethics in relation to slavery in American and transatlantic history. It traces these themes from early colonial times through the Civil War and beyond. This volume focuses on how various groups marshalled these religious-legal traditions to respond to questions of enslavement, emancipation and abolition in the face of ever-transforming social, religious-cultural, legal and political contexts over more than two centuries. As a result, this study provides a historical window into the history of British and broader European American social-religious relations, including the Bible, Christianity, Judaism and Islam in America, Black African and African American Islam in relation to the legacy of Black African Muslim slaves and slavery, and more.