The Lawbook Exchange has issued its Catalogue 109, American Law 1719-2000. That cuts a wide swath. From colonial times to the dawn of the 21st century, from a backwater colony to the most powerful nation on earth, from a country that essentially implemented English law to one with its own long history of jurisprudence. We've come a long way.
We begin with a lawyer who had a long and impressive resume. He served in the Maryland State Senate and as U.S. Attorney General and Secretary of the Treasury. Finally, he was elevated to the Chief Justice of U.S. Supreme Court, a position he held for 28 years. He was highly respected, at least for most of those years. His name is still well-known today, though that all comes from one decision, a momentous one, a momentously bad one. It turned his reputation to trash. It was probably the worst Supreme Court decision ever. That would be the Dred Scott Decision, issued in 1857, his 21st year as Chief Justice. Dred Scott was a slave who for a while resided in a free state. He sought his freedom. Roger Taney wrote that Blacks were regarded in America as inferior human beings lacking the rights of white people. The court not only ruled that being in a free state did not make him free. It the went beyond that to rule that African Americans could not be citizens of the United States and invalidated the Missouri Compromise, which prohibited slavery west of the Missouri River. Many hoped that the Supreme Court would once and for all resolve the slavery/abolition issue, and Northerners were hopeful of a better outcome. Taney had freed his own slaves. Instead of resolving the issue, the Dred Scott Decision incensed Northerners and left Taney with a severely tarnished reputation which continues to this day. Just last year his bust was removed from the U.S. capitol. A look at the Chief Justice who came to be despised can be found in this pamphlet, published in 1865, the year after he died: The Unjust Judge. A Memorial of Roger Brooke Taney, Late Chief Justice of the United States. Item 95. Priced at $1,500.
Thomas Cooper was born in Britain and as he came of age, became involved in political causes. He was a strong supporter of free speech. He went to France during that country's revolution to promote his ideas, but as that revolution spun out of control, he deemed it wise to leave. Fearful of persecution for his views if he returned to England, he emigrated to America instead, settling in Northumberland, Pennsylvania. It was there that he published his opinions, including a strong attack on John Adams and the Alien and Sedition Acts. The result was his being tried for libel under the Sedition Act. He was convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment. He made the most of his sentence by writing and publishing this account of his trial from prison, An Account of the Trial of Thomas Cooper, of Northumberland, On a Charge of Libel Against the President of the United States... published in 1800. His account helped to make the election of 1800 a referendum on the Alien and Sedition Acts, which led to the defeat of John Adams in his run for reelection. He later became a college professor and in 1819 moved to South Carolina. His views then became more southern, turning pro-states rights, favoring South Carolina's Nullification Act, purchased slaves, and became an advocate for slavery, which he had actively opposed as a young man in England. Item 19. $2,000
British authorities never had much affection for Thomas Paine. His Common Sense served as a call to revolution in America. Paine was born in England but emigrated to America in 1774. His timing was perfect for overthrowing British rule. He later returned to England where his book the Rights of Man angered the British authorities again. It supported the French Revolution, when it was still pro-democracy rather than the horror show it became. The authorities feared he would encourage British citizens to start a similar revolt. Paine decided it was time to leave and moved to France, where he wrote the Age of Reason. This one angered even some of his friends. It was an attack on the authority of the Bible and the Christian religion. With this, the British authorities concluded it was time to make Paine pay. Unfortunately, Paine was in France, out of reach. So, they went after his publisher, Thomas Williams. Williams' prosecutor, Thomas Erskine, was a lawyer who defended Paine in his previous battles with the government. Here we see Erskine's point of view, The Speeches of the Hon. Thomas Erskine, in the Court of King's Bench, June 28, 1797, before the Right Hon. Lloyd Lord Kenyon, and a Special Jury, on the Trial the King versus Thomas Williams, for publishing The Age of Reason, written by Thomas Paine; together with Mr. Stewart Kyd's Reply, and Lord Kenyon's Charge to the Jury, published in 1797. Erskine and the government prevailed, and poor Williams, who had little to do with the book, was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to three years in prison, later reduced to one. Payne himself would later land in jail in France, but for political rather than theological reasons. Payne's theology is often misunderstood today. Many assume he was an atheist but he was a Deist, one who believes in one God but does not believe in the authority of the Bible or Christianity. He thought some of the incitement to violence of the God of the Bible was inconsistent with his vision of God. The church he saw as corrupt. He rejected revealed religion and promoted Natural Religion, which is focused on doing good. Item 4. $950.
Daniel Webster was one of the great senatorial orators of the first half of the 19th century, along with Clay, Calhoun, and Benton. Other than Benton, all sought the presidency but none achieved it. Nonetheless, they were more important historic figures than many of the nonentities who did secure the office. As a young man in his 20s, before beginning his long career in public office, Webster was a lawyer in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. One of his earliest forays into politics was displayed in this anonymously published pamphlet, Considerations on the Embargo Laws, published in 1808. Through the first decades of the 19th century, America found itself on the brink of war with both Britain and France, though those two were fighting each other. America stayed neutral, though each side had its advocates and enemies in the country. Finally, President Jefferson decided to place an embargo on both nations, France for interfering with shipping, England for impressing American seamen into their service. Webster advocates against the embargo. He claims it was unconstitutional on the grounds the Constitution only authorizes Congress to regulate commerce, not stop it. Perhaps that was splitting the hairs too closely. Webster was not so much motivated by legal hairsplitting as he was the effect the embargo had on New England in particular as foreign trade was essential to its economy. Webster would again oppose Jefferson's successor, James Madison, when he led America to war with Britain in 1812 for the same commercial reasons. Item 72. $750.
How many portraits can you cram onto one 3 1/2” x 2 1/2” carte de visite? A lot evidently. This card depicts the busts of the members of Congress who supported the 13th Amendment. That is the one that outlawed slavery. There were 38 senators and 119 representatives who voted in favor of the amendment. I don't know whether all are here as those images are quite small and very difficult to count. Senators are on the outer ring of an oval, representatives inside. Additionally, it displays Vice-President Hannibal Hamlin on the top, House Speaker Schuyler Colfax in the center, and at the bottom President Abraham Lincoln. Item 91. $650.
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