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The Long, Lingering Shadow: Slavery, Race, And Law In The American Hemisphere (Introduction), Robert J. Cottrol

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This essay is the introduction to the recently published book, The Long, Lingering Shadow: Slavery, Race , and Law in the American Hemisphere (University of Georgia Press, 2013). Students of American history know of the law’s critical role in developing a system of racial hierarchy in the United States. The Long, Lingering Shadow shows that this history is best appreciated in a comparative perspective. The volume looks at the parallel legal histories of race relations in the United States, Brazil, and Spanish America. It takes the reader on a journey that begins with the origins of New World slavery in …