Slavery & the Law

Paul Finkelman is one of the most prolific scholars of legal history and early American culture. He is author or editor of over forty books including Dred Scott v. Sandford: A Brief History With Documents, Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson, An Imperfect Union: Slavery, Federalism and Comity, and His Soul Goes Marching On: Responses to John Brown and the Harper's Ferry Raid. He is currently Chapman Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Tulsa.

• Chapter 1 The Centrality of Slavery in American Legal DevelopmentPart 2 Theories of Democracy and the Law of SlaveryChapter 3 Learning the Three "I"s of America Slave HeritageChapter 4 Ideology and Imagery in the Law of SlaveryPart 5 Constitutional Law and SlaveryChapter 6 Slavery in the Canon of Constitutional LawChapter 7 Chief Justice Hornblower of New Jersey and the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793Chapter 8 A Federal Assault: African-Americans and the Impact of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850Chapter 9 The Crisis Over The Impending Crisis: Free Speech, Slavery, and the Fourteenth AmendmentPart 10 Criminal and Civil Law of SlaveryChapter 11 Slaves the the Rules of Evidence in Criminal TrialsChapter 12 "Details are of a Most Revolting Character": Cruelty to Slaves as Seen in Appeals to the Supreme Court of Louisiana/The Unreported Case of Humphreys v. UtzChapter 13 Pandora's Box: Slave Character on Trial in the Antebellum Deep SouthChapter 14 Slave Auctions on the Courthouse Steps: Court Sales of Slaves in Antebellum South CarolinaPart 15 Comparative Law and SlaveryChapter 16 Seventeenth-Century Jurists, Roman Law, and SlaveryChapter 17 The British Constitution and the Creation of American SlaveryChapter 18 Thinking Property at RomeChapter 19 Thinking Property at Memphis: An Application of Watson

This fresh and effective approach permits not only a deeper understanding of American legal history but also a more fundamental examination of the antebellum moral and intellectual justification of slavery. . . . Highly recommended.