Read the introduction to UNFREE MARKETS: THE SLAVES' ECONOMY AND THE RISE TO CAPITALISM IN SOUTH CAROLINA, by Justene Hill Edwards. The everyday lives of enslaved people were filled with the backbreaking tasks that their enslavers forced them to complete. But in spare moments, they found time in which to earn money and obtain goods for themselves. In this work, Justene Hill Edwards illuminates the inner workings of the slaves’ economy and the strategies that enslaved people used to participate in the market.