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First published 1850

A Defence for Fugitive Slaves, against the Acts of Congress of February 12, 1793, and September 18, 1850

by Lysander Spooner

Boston: Bela Marsh, 1850; Online Library of Liberty edition80 pages

A Defence for Fugitive Slaves, against the Acts of Congress of February 12, 1793, and September 18, 1850 by Lysander Spooner is available as a free PDF and EPUB download at freecapitalists.org.

Author
Lysander Spooner
First published
1850
Format
PDF and EPUB
Pages
80
Publisher
Boston: Bela Marsh, 1850; Online Library of Liberty edition
License
Public domain by publication date.

Spooner's 1850 pamphlet defending fugitive slaves and those who help them against the Fugitive Slave Acts. He argues that slavery is contrary to natural law and to the Constitution, that the acts are therefore void, and that jurors and citizens have a right and a duty to resist them. It is one of his major antislavery legal arguments.

Questions

About this book and this copy

Is A Defence for Fugitive Slaves, against the Acts of Congress of February 12, 1793, and September 18, 1850 free to download?
Yes. The complete 80-page PDF and EPUB downloads directly from this page (403 KB). There is no signup, no account and no paywall.
How long is A Defence for Fugitive Slaves, against the Acts of Congress of February 12, 1793, and September 18, 1850?
80 pages, 26 chapters, and about 35,656 words in the edition this archive serves.
Who wrote A Defence for Fugitive Slaves, against the Acts of Congress of February 12, 1793, and September 18, 1850?
Lysander Spooner (1808–1887) was an American individualist anarchist, abolitionist, and legal theorist. This archive holds 15 of Spooner's works.

What's in it

26 chapters · 35,656 words · free to read here

  1. POVERTY, ITS ILLEGAL CAUSES AND LEGAL CURE.—PART I. BY LYSANDER SPOONER.
  2. RECOMMENDATIONS.
  3. An Act respecting Fugitives from Justice, and persons escaping from the service of their Masters.
  4. An Act to amend, and supplementary to the Act, entitled “An Act respecting Fugitives from Justice, and persons escaping from the service of their Masters,” approved February 12, 1793.
  5. CONTENTS.
  6. section 1.
  7. section 2.: Denial of a Trial by Jury.*
  8. section 3.: The Commissioners, authorized by the Act of 1850, are not Constitutional Tribunals for the performance of the duties assigned them.
  9. section 4.: The State Magistrates, authorized by the Act of 1793, to deliver up fugitives from service or labor, are not constitutional tribunals for that purpose.
  10. section 5.: Ex parte Evidence.
  11. section 6.: The provisions of the act of 1850 requiring the exclusion of certain evidence, are unconstitutional.
  12. section 7.: The requirement of the act of 1850, that the cases be adjudicated “in a summary manner,” is unconstitutional.
  13. section 8.: The suspension of the writ of Habeas Corpus, by the act of 1850, is unconstitutional.
  14. CHAPTER II.: The Right of Resistance, and the Right to have the Legality of that Resistance judged of by a Jury.
  15. CHAPTER III.: Liability of United States Officers to be punished, under the State Laws, for executing the acts of 1793 and 1850.
  16. A: Neither the Constitution, nor either of the acts of Congress of 1793 or 1850, requires the surrender of Fugitive Slaves.
  17. B: Authorities for the Right of the Jury to judge of the Law in Criminal Cases.
  18. ARTICLE I.
  19. C.: Mansfield’s argument against the Right of the Jury to judge of the law in criminal cases.
  20. D: Effect of Trial by Jury, in nullifying other Legislation than the Fugitive Slave Laws.
  21. UNCONSTITUTIONALITY OF SLAVERY. PARTS FIRST AND SECOND.
  22. RECOMMENDATIONS.
  23. ALSO FOR SALE AS ABOVE.
  24. About Liberty Fund
  25. The Online Library of Liberty
  26. Copyright Information
Portrait of Lysander Spooner

About the author

Lysander Spooner 1808–1887

Lysander Spooner (1808–1887) was an American individualist anarchist, abolitionist, and legal theorist. He is known for establishing the American Letter Mail Company to compete with the United States Post Office and for authoring radical… Read more about Lysander Spooner.

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