Slavery, the Supreme Court, and the Ambivalent Constitution

Yet because slavery was a creature of state law and the Constitution did not explicitly grant Congress power to enforce the fugitive slave clause, states asserted their rights in cases dealing with runaway slaves. The Supreme Court's 1842 Prigg decision, penned by Joseph Story, declared that Co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of Southern History 2014, Vol.80 (1), p.184
Main Author: Tinkler, Robert
Format: Review
Language:English
Subjects:
Ashmore, John
Clauses
Constitutions
Federal court decisions
Supreme Court decisions
Taney, Roger Brooke (1777-1864)
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Yet because slavery was a creature of state law and the Constitution did not explicitly grant Congress power to enforce the fugitive slave clause, states asserted their rights in cases dealing with runaway slaves. The Supreme Court's 1842 Prigg decision, penned by Joseph Story, declared that Congress had the exclusive power to enforce the fugitive slave clause and that states could not use personal liberty laws like Pennsylvania's to interfere with that enforcement.
ISSN:0022-4642
2325-6893