L'affranchissement testamentaire des esclaves en Caroline du Sud 1783-1865 : un bonheur différé ?

This paper analyzes conditional or differed manumission by will in South Carolina by underscoring how it initially served as a means of controlling the enslaved population while respecting the unalienable right of slave masters to dispose of their bond property as they chose. As the question of slavery became increasingly politicized, South Carolina prohibited the private manumission of slaves, thus sacrificing the individual rights of slave owners for the benefit of public safety. However, some masters sought to assert their slaves' natural right to happiness and granted them a precarious freedom, by illegally freeing them in the hope that their freedom would one day become effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]