The Sources of Antislavery Constitutionalism in America, 1760-1848
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3398347 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Donald M Roper (corresponding author), William M Wiecek |
| Year | 1979 |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 130 |
| Publication date | 1979-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The William and Mary Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0043-5597 • E-ISSN: 1933-7698 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/1921989 |
| OpenAlex | W4289256035 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 28 |
In 1760 the institution of slavery in the British colonies enjoyed undisputed legitimacy.No colonials considered it inherently illegiti mate, although some, especially Quakers in the middle colonies, at tacked it on moral grounds.By 1848 some American abolitionists contended that slavery was everywhere illegitimate, while a larger number, as well as many nonabolitionists, believed that the federal government could properly restrict the spread of slavery into the territories.In addition, many northerners believed that the free states could repel the intrusion of slavery into their jurisdictions.The pas sage from the constitutional world of 1760 to that of 1848, with respect to slavery, is the subject of this study.Antislavery constitutionalism developed from nontechnical, popu lar origins that lay outside courts and legislatures.Constitutional development was (and is) not a monopoly of a hieratic caste of judges and lawyers.It has its beginnings in the American people, and its first expressions are to be found in documents less formal than decisions and statutes.Alvan Stewart perceived this when he wrote:The great secret of successful prosecution of the anti-slavery conquest is yet unrevealed, and where revealed is not believed.The simplicity of means is so amazing, men will not believe it.It is the great every-man power, the one-man power, the common-man power, the unlearned-man power.Every honest antislavery man has the power of converting some of his neighbors to our glorious principles, in the next five weeks by talk ing, by tract, newspaper, or pamphlet.1
Constitutionalism · Democracy · Political science · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Law
The Writings of Thomas Jefferson
Political Economy of Slavery
Thaddeus Stevens
American Slavery As It Is
Prudence Crandall Champion of Negro Education
Federalists in Dissent
The Laws of Indiana Territory, 1801-1809
Correspondence Addressed to John C. Calhoun, 1837-1849
The Emergence of Immediatism in British and American Antislavery Thought
The Territorial Papers of the United States
The Laws of Illinois Territory, 1809-1818
Men Against the State
The Wilmot Proviso Revisited
Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 Reported by James Madison
A Dangerous Pamphlet in the Old South
Slavery in the Structure of American Politics, 1765-1820
The Abolitionists
Prelude to Civil War
The Southern Dream of a Caribbean Empire, 1854-1861
The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865
Cotton versus Conscience
A Pro-slavery Crusade
The Political Significance of Slave Representation, 1787-1821
The Abolitionists' Postal Campaign of 1835
Politics and Prejudice
Lewis Tappan and the Evangelical War Against Slavery
To the Hartford Convention
The Frontier Against Slavery
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |