gressional petitions. The limited legal archive also necessitated a narrative that is not entirely linear. Gilmer spares little detail in retelling the courtroom dramas, which read as colorful, suspenseful, and deeply intriguing. Together, they “reveal both the power of formal law and its limitations in antebellum [and post-emancipation] Texas life” (10). Thus, the claim that Gillmer really drives home is that the formal law, while seemingly static and unaffected by the personal whims of those charged to enforce it, was indeed malleable and accommodating to sometimes thorny and unconventional personal relationships and good old Texas pragmatism. Or, as Gillmer simply suggests, Texas was “no place for rigid rules” and “life was far more fluid” across the rugged frontier (179). Contingencies mattered in each profiled case, and without fail, the conclusions reached by judges and juries confirmed this Texas reality. Hence, the seeming rigidity of race or the precarity of freedom keeps the reader in full anticipation of every trial’s outcome. Likewise, the generous postslavery updates of key characters that Gillmer provides help underscore the long reach and consequences of evolving notions of race in Texas. So, southern-with-many-twists is the portrait of Texas that eventually emerges from this monograph. Altogether, the nineteenth-century Texas that Gillmer illustrates is laden with nuance and intricacy. In keeping with the late Ira Berlin’s insistence that we not view slavery as a monolithic institution across time and space, Gillmer demonstrates that there were indeed many slaveries (and freedoms) lived throughout Texas and at various moments in the state’s history. For up-and-coming slavery scholars and students of Texas history, this book should be required reading. While heavy on general Texas history, there were moments when engagement with the greater nation would have provided much needed additional context and avenues for comparison. One might also insist on moving beyond the traditional black/white binary to highlight the state’s Tejano and Native American heritage. Still, this work adds a great deal to our understanding of slavery in Texas, and it encourages a more critical view of how we have long understood slavery, race, and even place.

中文翻译：

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他们一磅肉的代价：被奴役者在国家建设中的价值，从子宫到坟墓，戴娜·拉米·贝瑞（Daina Ramey Berry）

侵略性请愿书。有限的法律档案也需要一个不完全是线性的叙述。吉尔默在重述法庭戏剧时几乎不留任何细节，这些戏剧读起来丰富多彩、悬疑且引人入胜。他们一起“揭示了正式法律的力量及其在战前 [和解放后] 德克萨斯生活中的局限性”（10）。因此，吉尔默真正开车回家的说法是，正式法律虽然看似静态且不受负责执行它的人的个人奇思妙想的影响，但确实具有可塑性，并且适应有时棘手和非常规的个人关系以及古老的德克萨斯实用主义。或者，正如吉尔默所暗示的那样，德克萨斯州在崎岖的边境上“没有严格的规则”，“生活更加流畅”（179）。意外事件在每个被描述的案例中都很重要，而且毫无疑问，法官和陪审团得出的结论证实了德克萨斯州的这一现实。因此，种族的僵化或自由的不稳定使读者对每一次审判的结果充满期待。同样，吉尔默提供的关键人物的慷慨后奴隶制更新有助于强调德克萨斯州不断演变的种族观念的长期影响和后果。因此，多曲折的南方是最终从这本专着中出现的德克萨斯的肖像。总而言之，吉尔默描绘的 19 世纪德克萨斯充满了细微差别和错综复杂。与已故 Ira Berlin 坚持认为我们不将奴隶制视为跨越时间和空间的单一制度一致，吉尔默证明确实存在许多奴隶制（和自由）在整个德克萨斯州以及在该州历史的不同时刻。对于崭露头角的奴隶制学者和德克萨斯历史的学生来说，这本书应该是必读的。虽然德克萨斯州的一般历史很重要，但有时与更大的国家接触会提供急需的额外背景和比较途径。人们可能还会坚持超越传统的黑白二元模式，以突出该州的 Tejano 和美洲原住民传统。尽管如此，这项工作还是极大地增进了我们对德克萨斯州奴隶制的理解，并鼓励对我们长期以来如何理解奴隶制、种族甚至地方采取更批判性的观点。人们可能还会坚持超越传统的黑白二元模式，以突出该州的 Tejano 和美洲原住民传统。尽管如此，这项工作还是极大地增进了我们对德克萨斯州奴隶制的理解，并鼓励对我们长期以来如何理解奴隶制、种族甚至地方采取更批判性的观点。人们可能还会坚持超越传统的黑白二元模式，以突出该州的 Tejano 和美洲原住民传统。尽管如此，这项工作还是极大地增进了我们对德克萨斯州奴隶制的理解，并鼓励对我们长期以来如何理解奴隶制、种族甚至地方采取更批判性的观点。