Author ORCID Identifier
0009-0009-0782-9421
Defense Date
2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
History
First Advisor
Dr. Carolyn Eastman
Second Advisor
Dr. Michael Dickinson
Third Advisor
Dr. Mary Caton Lingold
Abstract
This thesis traces developments in how the family of Chief Justice John Marshall trafficked and traded enslaved people amongst themselves. I argue that kinship networks strategically bought, traded, loaned, and sold enslaved people to each other for the benefit of their extended families as a whole, a concept I have termed the inter-familial slave trade. I investigate these changes through the experiences of John Marshall, his sons, and grandsons, which reveal that marriage and death are two key moments of engagement in this trade, moments when families sought to secure support and inheritances that could help their heirs financially. By analyzing the Marshalls’ trafficking in people over the course of three generations, I demonstrate the specific ways that the inter-familial slave trade facilitated their financial planning and new household creation.
In addition, I discuss the Chief Justice’s jurisprudence in the context of his family’s economic investment in slavery and property rights. As Chief Justice, Marshall chose to bolster the future racial and financial supremacy of his children and extended family rather than interpret the law in ways that benefited the people they held in bondage. Bringing the extended family and the domestic slave trade together in one historical analysis allows for a nuanced yet wide-reaching interpretation of how an extended family network leveraged the value of their enslaved people to buttress familial wealth - and considering the Chief Justice’s legal impact regarding slavery, this family was more influential than most with regard to slavery.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
12-10-2025