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.@HoffProf, I expect you have limited time, so lets get to the core of things. Most people distinguish qualitatively in their minds the cases of forcing someone to do something, or making a deal to get them to agree to do something. And usually we approve more of the latter case.
In the context of that I suggested that the Hemmings cases an example of agreeing to become a slave. Many people complained, saying this was not such an example. For this issue, it doesn't work to apply the contract law of today, where slavery is illegal.
So, we could either apply the contract law at that time, or we could apply some more generalizes concept of contract law (such as is used in law & econ) that can extend to that situation. Or some other way to talk about if their deal was valid.
So the big question is: can any of these approaches say how reasonable it is to see their deal a valid deal, such that we might approve of it more than if Jefferson had simply used direct force to drag the Hemmings back to US?
