University of Virginia Library

10. Records of Trials

The reader who acquaints himself even superficially with John Codman
Hurd's two volumes, entitled the Law of Freedom and Bondage in
the United States, can not fail to be impressed with the value of legal
reports for the study of the great contention over slavery. Hurd's pages
are full of descriptions and discussions of cases in their judicial bearing,
and his foot-notes are largely made up of references to the published
reports of trials.

In the series of these records of trials, one may trace the history of
legal opposition to the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave laws, note the
decision in the Prigg case, by which the efficiency of the law of 1793 was
destroyed, and the Southern demand for a new law made imperative,
mark the clash of state and federal jurisdictions, and see the growth of
the spirit of nullification in the North. For these purposes, one should
consult not only the records of the Supreme Court and the lower courts,
such as Federal Cases, Howard's Reports, McLean's Reports, Ohio State
Reports, Wisconsin Reports, etc., but also the various law periodicals, for
example, the American Law Register, the Legal Intelligencer, and the
Western Law Journal. Some important cases have been published in
pamphlet form, while two at least are more minutely set forth in books;
a volume is devoted to the Oberlin-Wellington rescue case, and several
relate to the trial of Anthony Burns.