Life, liberty, and property in slaves: white Mississippians seek "just compensation' for their freed slaves in 1865

After the U.S. Civil War, a group of Mississippi politicians demanded that if their state abolished slavery and rejoined the Union the federal government must reimburse former slaveowners for the value of freed slaves. These politicians challenged the federal government's authority to abolish slavery without just compensation' for their legally protected property. Though they failed, their allies and opponents alike believed Congress would compensate former slaveowners once Mississippi rejoined the United States. Their efforts are one chapter in a national story illustrating how white southerners attempted to defend their financial interests in slaves after wartime emancipation abolished slave labor.