ePub Fulbe Voices: Marriage; Islam; and Medicine In Northern Cameroon by Helen A. Regis in History

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In 1843; the Louisiana Supreme Court heard the case of a slave named Sally Miller; who claimed to have been born a free white person in Germany. Sally; a very light-skinned slave girl working in a New Orleans caf; might not have known she had a case were it not for a woman who recognized her as Salom Muller; with whom she had emigrated from Germany over twenty years earlier. Sally decided to sue for her freedom; and was ultimately freed; despite strong evidence contrary to her claim.In The Two Lives of Sally Miller; Carol Wilson explores this fascinating legal case and its reflection on broader questions about race; society; and law in the antebellum South. Why did a court system known for its extreme bias against African Americans help to free a woman who was believed by many to be a black slave? Wilson explains that while the notion of white enslavement was shocking; it was easier for society to acknowledge that possibility than the alternative-an African slave who deceived whites and triumphed over the system.