Free Blacks, Slaves, and Slaveowners in Civil and Criminal Courts: The Pamphlet Literature (Slavery, Race, and the American Legal System, 1700-1872)
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Free Blacks, Slaves, and Slaveowners in Civil and Criminal Courts: The Pamphlet Literature.
New York & London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1988. Two volumes. With a New Introduction by Paul Finkelman. Reprinted 2007 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. Set ISBN-13: 978-1-58477-742-7. Set ISBN-10: 1-58477-742-7. Cloth.
* Reprinted from the Garland series Slavery, Race, and the American Legal System, 1700-1872. Facsimiles of 20 scarce pamphlets are collected in these two volumes. As the title indicates, most are reports of criminal cases relating to such crimes as murder and assault. Others address political issues arising from legal rights of free blacks. Also included are accounts of two fascinating cases relating to problems caused by the end of slavery. One involves the legal status of informal marriages between former slaves, the other involves the validity of slave contracts signed before abolition. "[The volumes in this series] belong in every library used for research, and in particular at all law school libraries. They will prove valuable to historians, lawyers, law teachers and students, and all persons interested in the problems of slavery and race in American experience.": William M. Wiecek, American Journal of Legal History 33 (1989) 187.
