| Description |
1 online resource (306 pages) |
|
text file |
| Series |
Book collections on Project MUSE.
|
| Note |
Issued as part of book collections on Project MUSE. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
The ambiguous beginnings of antislavery constitutionalism : Somerset -- Antislavery during and after the American Revolution -- Slavery in the making of the Constitution -- Antislavery in the new nation -- Missouri statehood : the second crisis of the union -- The Southern counteroffensive -- Antislavery renascent -- Constitutional sparring -- Moderate constitutional antislavery : abolition manquee -- The Garrisonian critique -- Radical constitutional antislavery : the imagined past, the remembered future -- Epilogue : beyond free soil. |
| Access |
Open Access Unrestricted online access |
| Summary |
This ambitious book examines the constitutional and legal doctrines of the antislavery movement from the eve of the American Revolution to the Wilmot Proviso and the 1848 national elections. Relating political activity to constitutional thought, William M. Wiecek surveys the antislavery societies, the ideas of their individual members, and the actions of those opposed to slavery and its expansion into the territories. He shows that the idea of constitutionalism has popular origins and was not the exclusive creation of a caste of lawyers. In offering a sophisticated examination of both sides of the argument about slavery, he not only discusses court cases and statutes, but also considers a broad range of "extrajudicial" thought--political speeches and pamphlets, legislative debates and arguments. |
| Local Note |
Project Muse Project Muse Open Access |
| Subject |
Constitutional history -- United States.
|
|
Constitutional history. |
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United States. |
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Slavery -- Law and legislation -- United States -- History.
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Slavery -- Law and legislation. |
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History. |
| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
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Electronic books. .
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| Added Author |
Project Muse, distributor.
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| Other Form: |
Print version: (DLC) 77006169 9781501726460 |
| ISBN |
9781501726453 |
|
1501726455 |
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9781501726460 |
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