Statutes on Slavery

19 Pamphlets reprinted in facsimile, in 2 volumes, with a New Introduction by Paul Finkelman:
1. Constitution and Act of Incorporation of the Pennsylvania Society, for promoting the abolition of slavery and the relief of free Negroes, unlawfully held in bondage and for improving the condition of the African race, to which are added, the acts of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania for the gradual Abolition of slavery and the acts of the Congress respecting slaves and the slave trade, 1800. Philadelphia, 1800. 53 pp.
2. Laws Relative to Slaves and the Slave Trade. New York, 1806. 29 pp.
3. Laws Relative to Slaves and Servants, Passed by the Legislature of New York, March 31st, 1817 Together with Extracts from the Laws of the United States Respecting Slaves. New York, 1817. 38 pp.
4. Constitution and Act of Incorporation of the Pennsylvania Society, for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and the Relief of Free Negroes, Unlawfully Held in Bondage. And for Improving the Condition of the African Race, to which are added, the Acts of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery and the Acts of the Congress, Respecting Slavery and the Slave Trade, 1820. Philadelphia, 1820. 31 pp.
5. Stroud, George M. Sketch of the Laws Relating to Slavery in the Several States of the United States of America. Philadelphia, 1827. 180 pp.

Please contact us for a complete list of titles contained in these two volumes.

Reprinted from the Garland series Slavery, Race, and the American Legal System, 1700-1872. There are 19 facsimiles in these two volumes. All are collections of slave statutes. Some were intended for practicing lawyers, others were published by abolitionists or supporters of the peculiar institution to influence public opinion. Highlights include Sketch of the Laws Relating to Slavery in the Several States of the United States of America (1827), Address to the Citizens of the State of Ohio Concerning What Are Called the Black Laws (1848) and the slave codes of Illinois (1841) and the District of Columbia (1862). "[The volumes in this series] belong in every library used for research, and in particular at all law school libraries. They will prove valuable to historians, lawyers, law teachers and students, and all persons interested in the problems of slavery and race in American experience." William M. Wiecek, American Journal of Legal History 33 (1989) 187.