I know that slaves were often used as collateral to secure loans, but how about simply to make payments? For example, if a slave owner had some hefty attorney fees, could he simply pay the lawyer by giving him a slave?
I guess the onus of my question is whether slaves could be deployed as financial assets to make payments, rather than using them as collateral beforehand to secure a loan/pay a debt
Also, just to clarify, I am asking this question in relation to the antebellum United States