The Law of Freedom and Bondage: A Casebook by Paul Finkelman

J. K. Schafer
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引用次数: 13

Abstract

BOOK BRIEFS The Law of Freedom and Bondage: A Casebook. By Paul Finkelman. New York, London, and Rome: Oceana Publications, Inc., 1986. Pp. 281 $30.00- (Cloth) (Paper $15.00) Reviewed by Judith K. Schafer* Scholars interested in the impact of slavery on the United States during the antebellum period and the thorny legal issues that bondage raised in free and slave states will be pleased by the appearance of Paul Finkelman's The Law of Freedom and Bondage: A Casebook. Although less complete than Helen T. Catterall's classic five-volume Judicial Cases Concerning American Slavery and the Negro, Finkelman's book is useful because it is organized by topics rather than by states and because it includes statutes and other primary materials on the law of slavery as well as reports of cases. The author chooses to omit the leading federal cases dealing with slavery in favor of little known and less accessible state cases because slavery had its greatest impact on state law during the antebellum period. The selections show that the perpetuation of slavery necessitated the passage of specific statutes to maintain the institu- tion and existing laws had to be interpreted to accommodate the peculiarities of the institution. The result of the author's efforts is a useful and interesting collection of important materials on the law of slavery. Finkelman concentrates on four broad topics: the origin of slavery, the abolition of slavery in the North, manumission of slaves in the South, and the criminal law of slavery. The first section presents materials that show how early colonial courts grappled with the complex legal issues presented by the conflict between slavery and common law precedents. For example, although common law precedent held that children followed the condition of the father, colonial slave law required children to follow the condition of slave mothers. As early as 1740, South Carolina law held that slaves shall follow the condi- tion of the mother 1, which came to be the law in all slave states. In the section on the abolition of slavery in the North, Finkelman presents cases and statutes arising from the abolition of slavery in England, the gradual abolition of slavery in the northern states, the passage of the Northwest Ordinance, and the problem of the status of a slave who entered a free state and was freed by touching free soil. Southern courts increasingly denied the liberating effect of free soil as they became more defensive about the institution of slavery. This issue would finally be decided in the United States Supreme Court's landmark decision in Dred Scott v. Sanford 2 . The section on manumission deals with freedom suits based on transpor- tation of a slave to a free state or territory as well as the growing tendency of * Visiting Lecturer in Law, Acting Director, Murphy Institute of Political Economy, Tulane University. 1. P. FINKELMAN, THE LAW OF FREEDOM AND BONDAGE 7 (1986). 2. 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1856).
《自由与束缚的法则:保罗·芬克尔曼的案例手册》
书简介自由和奴役的法律:一个案例手册。保罗·芬克尔曼著。纽约、伦敦和罗马:Oceana出版公司,1986。第281页$30.00-(布)(纸张$15.00)由Judith K. Schafer评论*学者感兴趣的奴隶制对美国的影响在战前时期和棘手的法律问题,奴役提出了自由和奴隶制国家将高兴保罗·芬克尔曼的法律自由和奴役:一个案例手册的出现。虽然不如海伦·t·卡特罗的经典五卷本《关于美国奴隶制和黑人的司法案件》完整,但芬克尔曼的书很有用,因为它是按主题而不是按州组织的,而且它包括了关于奴隶制法律的法规和其他主要材料,以及案件报告。作者选择省略涉及奴隶制的主要联邦案件,以支持鲜为人知和不太容易了解的州案件,因为奴隶制在内战前时期对州法律的影响最大。这些选择表明,奴隶制的永久化需要通过特定的法规来维持这一制度,现有法律必须加以解释,以适应这一制度的特点。作者努力的结果是一本有用而有趣的关于奴隶制法律的重要资料集。芬克尔曼专注于四个广泛的主题:奴隶制的起源,北方奴隶制的废除,南方奴隶的解放,以及奴隶制的刑法。第一部分展示了早期殖民地法院如何处理奴隶制与普通法判例之间的冲突所带来的复杂法律问题的材料。例如,虽然普通法的先例认为子女服从父亲的条件,但殖民地的奴隶法要求子女服从奴隶母亲的条件。早在1740年,南卡罗来纳州的法律就规定奴隶应遵循母亲的条件,这后来成为所有实行奴隶制的州的法律。在关于北方废除奴隶制的章节中,芬克尔曼介绍了英国废除奴隶制、北方各州逐步废除奴隶制、《西北条例》的通过以及进入自由州并通过接触自由土地而获得自由的奴隶的地位问题所产生的案例和法规。南方法院越来越否认自由土地的解放作用,因为他们越来越为奴隶制辩护。这个问题最终将在美国最高法院在德雷德·斯科特诉桑福德二案中做出具有里程碑意义的决定。关于释放的部分涉及基于将奴隶运送到自由州或领土的自由诉讼,以及杜兰大学墨菲政治经济研究所法律客座讲师,代理所长的增长趋势。P.芬克尔曼,《自由与奴役法》(1986)。2. [美][19](1856)。
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