Through the telling of the story about William Freeman, Harvard Historian Robin Bernstein effectively rewrites an historical narrative. Whereas the recent narrative had it that convict leasing and prison for profit began in the post Civil War South, the story of William Freeman shows that the for profit prison system actually began much earlier and it happened in the North.

Bernstein discusses with Everyday Injustice the story of William Freeman, what made his case so unusual and how his experience set the stage for numerous developing issues in the carceral system de facto slavery, black criminality, convict leasing, for profit prisons and more.

You can find her book here: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/F/bo213968137.html