Maria R. Montalvo, an Assistant Professor of History at Emory University and author of 'Enslaved Archives', discusses how legal records from antebellum America shaped the narratives of enslaved individuals. She reveals the challenges historians face in reconstructing these lives due to biased and fragmentary documentation. Through analysis of over 18,000 court records and five key lawsuits in Louisiana, Montalvo uncovers how enslavers manipulated legal scripts to exploit and commodify enslaved people, intertwining law, history, and personal stories.
