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Slaves and the Courts, 1740-1860 |
Go directly to the collection, Slaves and the Court, 1740-1860, in American Memory, or view a Summary of Resources related to the collection. History topics include: Introduction | The Slave Trade | Laws Regulating Slavery and Free Blacks | States’ Rights and the Fugitive Slave Law | Abolitionists | The Dred Scott Case IntroductionSlaves and the Court, 1740-1860 includes approximately 100 documents (all
published between 1772 and 1889) concerning legal issues confronted by African
and African-American slaves as well as legislators, officers of the law, abolitionists,
and slave-holders. Prominent among the documents are records of court cases,
including arguments, testimony, judicial opinions, and analyses of cases and
decisions. The collection covers some of the best-known cases of the era,
such as the Anthony Burns, John Brown, and Dred Scott cases, but many lesser
known cases are also presented. Among the prominent Americans whose words
can be found in the collection are John Quincy Adams, Roger B. Taney, John
C. Calhoun, Salmon P. Chase, William Garrison, and Francis Scott Key. A large number of the cases deal with the Fugitive Slave Law and its enforcement;
other topics include the ending of the slave trade, criminal prosecutions
of slave-holders for mistreatment of slaves, regulating the expansion of slavery
into the territories, and slave rebellions. The cases represented in the collection
raise a panoply of fundamental constitutional issues—property rights,
separation of powers, state’s rights, rule of law, natural law, the
independent judiciary, freedom of speech, trial by jury, popular sovereignty,
the meaning of citizenship, cruel and unusual punishment, and freedom of religion,
among others. The collection is strongest in presenting material related to
the 40 years preceding the onset of the Civil War. On the collection’s home page, the Library of Congress reminds users
that “These primary historical documents reflect the attitudes, perspectives,
and beliefs of different times. The Library of Congress does not endorse the
views expressed in these collections, which may contain materials offensive
to some readers.” Teachers would do well to prepare students to deal
with the documents’ depiction of these attitudes. Depending on how teachers plan to use this collection, it may be helpful to
create a chalkboard timeline of major events in the history of slavery in
the United States. These events might include the following events and/or
others of your own choosing. As students examine documents in the collection
and learn more about the issues and events represented in the documents, they
can add information to the timeline or simply refer to the timeline to provide
a context for the documents. A Few Selected Events in the History of Slavery in the United States
Introduction | The Slave Trade | Laws Regulating Slavery and Free Blacks | States’ Rights and the Fugitive Slave Law | Abolitionists | The Dred Scott Case |
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Last updated 10/17/2003 |