Tyrannicide - Forging an American Law of Slavery in Revolutionary South Carolina

"Tyrannicide uses a captivating narrative to unpack the experiences of slavery and slave law in South Carolina and Massachusetts during the Revolutionary Era. In 1779, during the midst of the American Revolution, 34 South Carolina slaves escaped aboard aBritish privateer ship (the Tyrannicide), and ended up in Massachusetts. Once they arrived in Boston, the slaves became the center of a legal dispute between the two states, and the case affected slave law and highlighted the profound differences betweenhow the "terrible institution" was practiced in the North and South, in ways that would foreground issues that would eventually lead to the Civil War. Emily Blanck uses the Tyrannicide Affair and the slaves involved--some of which become active in the American Revolution in Massachusetts--as a lens through which to view contrasting slaveholding cultures and ideas of African American democracy. The legal and political battles that resulted from the affair reveal much about revolutionary ideals and states'rights at a time when notions of the New Republic--and philosophies about the unity of American states--were being created. Blanck's examination of the debate analyzes crucial questions: How could the colonies unify when they viewed one of America's foundational institutions in fundamentally different ways? How would fugitive slaves be handled legally and ethically? The experience of the Tyrannicide Affair informed the writing of parts of the Constitution, and led indirectly to the nation's writing of the fugitive slave law"--

About the author

EMILY BLANCK is an associate professor of history at Rowan University.

Summary

Tyrannicide uses a captivating story of the escape of thirty-four slaves from a British privateer to unpack the experiences of slavery and slave law in South Carolina and Massachusetts during the Revolutionary Era, highlighting differences and foreshadowing the Civil War.

Product details

• Authors: Emily Blanck
• Assisted by: Paul Finkelman (Editor), Timothy Huebner (Editor)
• Publisher: The University of Georgia Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 15.11.2014
• EAN: 9780820338644
• ISBN: 978-0-8203-3864-4
• Series: Studies in the Legal History o; Studies in the Legal History o; Studies in the Legal History of the South
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Modern era up to 1918; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Social sciences, law, business > Law > General, dictionaries; Rechtsgeschichte, Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika, USA, Amerikanische Geschichte, 1790 bis 1799 n. Chr., POLITICAL SCIENCE / Human Rights, LAW / Legal History, Legal Reference / Law Profession, HISTORY / United States / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800)