Slavery and the Law: The History of the Legal Systems and Cases that Enabled Slavery in the United States
Written by Charles River Editors
Narrated by Jim D. Johnston
()
About this audiobook
Ultimately, while the institution of slavery existed, the principle of protecting individual property rights prevailed, alongside a necessary acknowledgment that slaves were property first and sentient human beings second. It also required a great deal of careful drafting and verbal contortions to construct the Constitution for the young republic that supported those principles of freedom and equality while at the same time facilitating the perpetuation of the “peculiar institution.”
It was not until 1865, with the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment, the instrument that abolished slavery, that any overt mention of slavery found its way into the Constitution. Before that, direct reference was always carefully avoided, although, at the same time, unmistakably alluded to. The document is filled with provisions specific to slavery, protecting and codifying it on a federal level, without anywhere making direct or overt mention of it. By 1788, when the Constitution of the United States was formally adopted, slavery had been a fact of life in the colonies for 169 years, since the first recorded arrival of black Africans in Virginia in 1619. At that time, around the institution, had evolved a system of laws that were derived in the main from English common law. The irony here is that the regime of English common law was at its root hostile to the principle of human bondage, had no tradition of slavery to call upon, and was desirous on the whole to avoid making any overt judgment or pronouncement on the matter. It, therefore, fell to colonial lawmakers to resolve that essential contradiction between treating Africans as either people or property or both. This tension remained in play throughout the era of slavery in English-speaking America until the matter was finally resolved by the outcome of the American Civil War.
More audiobooks from Charles River Editors
The Rape of Nanking: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Massacre during the Second Sino-Japanese War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gnosticism: The History and Legacy of the Mysterious Ancient Religion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Project MK-Ultra: The History of the CIA’s Controversial Human Experimentation Program Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ur: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Sumerian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The East India Company: The History of the British Empire's Most Famous Mercantile Company Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nineveh: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Assyrian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Legends of the West: Deadwood, South Dakota Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Arnold Rothstein and Meyer Lansky: The Lives and Legacies of the Gangsters Who Reformed Organized Crime in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMysteries of the South: Ghosts, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in Dixie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mossad: The History and Legacy of Israel’s National Intelligence Agency Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Life and Legacy of the Father of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life and Trial of Lizzie Borden: The History of 19th Century America's Most Famous Murder Case Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Denisovans: The History of the Extinct Archaic Humans Who Spread Across Asia during the Paleolithic Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Patrice Lumumba: The Life and Legacy of the Pan-African Politician Who Became Congo's First Prime Minister Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Medieval England: The History of England from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Tudor Dynasty Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cambrian Period: The History and Legacy of the Start of Complex Life on Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mysterious Midwest: Mysteries, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in America's Heartland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Battle of Hamburger Hill: The History and Legacy of One of the Vietnam War's Most Controversial Battles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung: The Pioneering Lives and Works of History’s Most Influential Psychologists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Slavery and the Law
Related audiobooks
African American History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Indians and the Law Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Modern Democracy: The History and Legacy of the World’s Democratic Institutions Since the American Revolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader: The "Great Truth" about the "Lost Cause" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe American Slave Coast: A History of the Slave-Breeding Industry Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cherokee Civil Warrior: Chief John Ross and the Struggle for Tribal Sovereignty Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn Search of Black America: Discovering the African-American Dream Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nosy White People Calling Police on Black People: White America's Fear and Shame Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5America's Forgotten Slaves: The History of Native American Slavery in the New World and the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Aborigines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The History of Asian Immigrants in the United States during the 20th Century Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSouthern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSlavery in the North: The History and Legacy of American Slaves in the North Before the Civil War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rebels in Arms: Black Resistance and the Fight for Freedom in the Anglo-Atlantic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Midnight to Dawn: The Last Tracks of the Underground Railroad Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Question of Freedom: The Families Who Challenged Slavery from the Nation's Founding to the Civil War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black Cowboys of the Old West: True, Sensational, and Little-Known Stories From History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Southern Home or, The South and Its People Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Poetry of James Weldon Johnson: A hugely influential black writer that spearheaded the Harlem Renaissance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Life and Work of Oscar Micheaux: Pioneer Black Author and Filmmaker 1884-1951 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rise of Socialism: 1884-1918 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 1811 German Coast Uprising: The History and Legacy of America’s Largest Slave Revolt Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5America’s Weirdest Riots: The History and Legacy of the Most Unique American Riots Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNobody Is Protected: How the Border Patrol Became the Most Dangerous Police Force in the United States Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Slaves, Indian Masters: Slavery, Emancipation, and Citizenship in the Native American South Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPolitical Activists: Famous, Historical Examples Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Buffalo Soldiers: Heroes of the American West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Man, White House: An Oral History of the Obama Years Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Social Science For You
All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lonely Dad Conversations Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Parable of the Sower Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Demon Copperhead: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Hunger Games Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Come As You Are: Revised and Updated: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Name of the Wind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kindred Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Year of Magical Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hate U Give Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Radiolab: Mixtape: How The Cassette Changed The World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, 10th Anniversary Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Radiolab: Journey Through The Human Body Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Land of Delusion: Out on the edge with the crackpots and conspiracy-mongers remaking our shared reality Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Left Hand of Darkness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fourth Turning Is Here: What the Seasons of History Tell Us about How and When This Crisis Will End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Small Mercies: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Slavery and the Law
0 ratings0 reviews