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A sophisticated defense of state supremacy. Hardcover, 151 pp. Originally published: Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard, 1842. Published simultaneously in the United States and Great Britain, Enquiry criticizes Britain's seizure of American vessels engaged in the Atlantic slave trade. Although the importation of slaves was prohibited by law at this time, Wheaton rejected the right of other nations to enforce this American law. Instead of serving the United States, he reasons, such actions are a violation of its sovereignty. Reprint of the first edition.
Henry Wheaton [1785-1848] was a distinguished attorney and diplomat. His Elements of International Law (1836) established him as America's foremost authority on that subject at that time.
About the author
Henry Wheaton [1785-1848] was a justice of the Marine Court of New York City, a member of the New York State constitutional convention of 1821, a one-term representative to the New York State Assembly and a high-level diplomat who served in Denmark and Prussia. An important legal writer, he was the reporter of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1816 to 1827 and the author of several notable treatises, including A History of the Law of Nations in Europe and America (1838) and An Enquiry into the Validity of the British Claim to a Right of Visitation and Search of American Vessels Suspected to be Engaged in the Slave Trade (1842).
