The Bondsman's Burden constitutes the first large-scale economic analysis of the common law of Southern slavery. In contrast to earlier studies of slave law, this one uses all of the nearly 11,000 published Southern appellate cases involving slaves. These reported court cases serve as my data base: I use economic theory to help explain the development of slave law and of related laws governing livestock, servants, family members, and strangers. Two important findings emerge. Slave law provided a set of economically efficient rules (at least within its peculiar context) that preserved the market value of slaves and thus helped slavery flourish. But protecting property rights in slaves had a second, unintended, consequence. Because slaves were persons as well as property, rulings in slave cases served as precedents in postbellum years. In cases of personal injury, for example, antebellum courts tended to shield slaves more than free people. As a result, those who argued vigorously after the Civil War on behalf of ordinary consumers, workers, and victims of accidents or assaults sometimes turned to slave cases for guidance. For my part of the panel, I will summarize the major themes of my book and discuss the reviews and criticisms of it that have arisen in the past two years.