May 14, 2020 | 19th Century, Legislation, Transcription, United States
One Last Try Corwin Amendment (1860) On the eve of the Civil War, Thomas Corwin attempted to steer the country in a different direction by offering up a compromise bill that would have protected slavery in the South. By this point, however, the Southern states were...
May 14, 2020 | 18th Century, Pamphlet, Transcription, United States
A Lawyer’s Call St. George Tucker’s Gradual Emancipation Plan (1796) One of Virginia’s most notable lawyers in the late 18th Century, Tucker set out to provide his state with a plan to rid itself of the institution of slavery. Introduction St. George...
May 14, 2020 | 18th Century, Law, North America
Codifying Enslavement The Virginia Slave Code of 1705 As Virginia entered the new century, the legislature set out to make slavery law in a way it hadn’t before. The new law was the most detailed slave code the colony had produced yet, and would vastley...
May 1, 2020 | 18th Century, Book, North America, Transcription
A New Englander Speaks Samuel Sewall – The Selling of Joseph (1700) While not a pamphlet that would consistently continue to catch the attention of others after its publication, The Selling of Joseph represents the first published attack on slavery in New...
May 1, 2020 | 17th Century, Netherlands, Pamphlet, Transcription
An Exiles Writings John Locke – A Letter Concerning Toleration Writing on the matter of religious toleration, it may seem Locke was simply interested in advocating for the rights or liberties of religious minorities. Yet, during a time when monarchs asserted...
May 1, 2020 | 17th Century, England, Legal Case, Transcription
Rewriting slave law Chamberlain v. Harvey (1696) After the Glorious Revolution, the members of the convention parliament barred all of James II’s high court justices from serving, as they believed that his judges had enabled his absolutism via decisions such as...
