The liberty to sell a slave? An 1843 Republic of Texas court case still has a lot to teach us.

In the 1843 case of Walker v. McNeil, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas voided a contract to sell a slave. The court found that the buyer had used "duress" to force the sale--in other words, he had wrongly interfered with the seller's liberty by making threats against him.

Of course, the Walker court missed the forest for the trees. It waxed poetic about the liberty of the seller, never noticing that the slave had no liberty at all.

This old opinion is extraordinarily misguided. But can we still learn from Walker, by studying its specific oversights? Do we sometimes also miss the forest for the trees, especially when we talk about social justice issues that are part of slavery's ugly legacy? I suggest in this podcast that Walker, despite its age and misguided holding, still has a great deal to teach us.