Before <I>Dred Scott</I>: Slavery and Legal Culture in the American Confluence, 1787–1857

Before Dred Scott' draws on the freedom suits filed in the St Louis Circuit Court to construct a groundbreaking history of slavery and legal culture within the American Confluence, a vast region where the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri Rivers converge. Formally divided between slave and free territories and states, the American Confluence was nevertheless a site where the borders between slavery and freedom, like the borders within the region itself, were fluid. Such ambiguity produced a radical indeterminacy of status, which, in turn, gave rise to a distinctive legal culture made manifest by the prosecution of hundreds of freedom suits, including the case that ultimately culminated in the landmark United States Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott vs Sandford. Challenging dominant trends in legal history, 'Before Dred Scott' argues that this distinctive legal culture, above all, was defined by ordinary people's remarkable understanding of and appreciation for formal law Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Series information......Page 5 Title page......Page 7 Copyright information......Page 8 Dedication......Page 9 Table of contents......Page 11 List of maps, charts, and tables......Page 12 Acknowledgments......Page 13 Introduction......Page 17 Part I......Page 41 1 A Radical Indeterminacy of Status......Page 43 I......Page 44 II......Page 61 III......Page 72 IV......Page 83 2 “With the Ease of a Veteran Litigant”......Page 87 I......Page 88 II......Page 91 III......Page 99 I......Page 112 II......Page 118 III......Page 131 IV......Page 135 Part II......Page 143 4 Slavery from Liberty to Equality......Page 145 I......Page 146 II......Page 154 III......Page 165 5 “Working His Emancipation”......Page 171 I......Page 173 II......Page 180 III......Page 187 IV......Page 190 6 Exploiting the Uncertainties of Federalism......Page 196 I......Page 198 II......Page 203 III......Page 206 IV......Page 212 V......Page 217 VI......Page 221 7 Remembering Slavery and Freedom in the American Confluence......Page 226 I......Page 227 II......Page 232 III......Page 241 Conclusion......Page 249 Appendix......Page 260 Index......Page 291 " ... Draws on the freedom suits filed in the St. Louis circuit court to construct a ground-breaking history of slavery and legal culture within the American Confluence, a vast region where the Ohio,, Mississippi, and the Missouri rivers converge. Formally divided between slave and free territories and states, the American Confluence was nevertheless a site where the borders between slavery and freedom, like the borders within the region itself, were fluid. Such ambiguity produced a radical indeterminacy of status, which, in turn, gave rise to a distinctive legal culture made manifest by the prosecution of hundreds of freedom suits, including the case that ultimately culminated in the landmark United States Supreme Court decision in Scott v. Sandford (1847)."--Page [i] Cover 1 Half-title 3 Series information 5 Title page 7 Copyright information 8 Dedication 9 Table of contents 11 List of maps, charts, and tables 12 Acknowledgments 13 Introduction 17 Part I 41 1 A Radical Indeterminacy of Status 43 I 44 II 61 III 72 IV 83 2 “With the Ease of a Veteran Litigant” 87 I 88 II 91 III 99 3 “By the Help of God and a Good Lawyer” 112 I 112 II 118 III 131 IV 135 Part II 143 4 Slavery from Liberty to Equality 145 I 146 II 154 III 165 5 “Working His Emancipation” 171 I 173 II 180 III 187 IV 190 6 Exploiting the Uncertainties of Federalism 196 I 198 II 203 III 206 IV 212 V 217 VI 221 7 Remembering Slavery and Freedom in the American Confluence 226 I 227 II 232 III 241 Conclusion 249 Appendix 260 Index 291 Appealing to legal historians and scholars, this antebellum history uses original legal suits to analyse the understanding, use, and adaptation of formal law by slave holders and slaves within the American Confluence, an area of liminal boundaries where the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri Rivers converge.