TÄTE IAVERY TATUTES - ProQuest

from the time of Independence until the 1860's when the emancipation pro-
clamation, the armies of Sherman and Grant, and finally the Thirteenth
Amendment brought an end to slavery.
This collection emerged out of my own scholarly interests in the law of slavery.
Slavery, however, is inherently interesting to scholars in numerous disciplines.
For legal historians slavery has a special fascination, because slaves where both
persons and property under the law. As objects of property slaves could be
bought, sold, and rented. They were also subject to taxation, and at times,
even judicial condemnation. As persons slaves could commit crimes and be
the victims of crimes. Because of their humanity some masters sought to free
them. Similarly, as human beings they might seek their own freedom, by run-
ning away or even by purchasing their liberty from their owners.
Over the past two decades many scholars in law, history, and political science
have begun to examine the way in which slavery and the law interacted. Most
of this scholarship has focused on reported appellate court opinions and how
common law judges adjudicated cases involving slavery. Scholars who are not
primarily interested in the law have also used legal materials to further our
understanding of slavery.
Almost all of this scholarship has been handicapped by a lack of knowledge
about the statutory law of slavery. This is because statutes on slavery are par-
ticularly difficult for scholars to use. With the exception of the Law Library
of the Library of Congress only a few libraries have full runs of the annual
statutes of all states. Even the best law libraries in the country are likely to
lack some volumes. Thus, simply obtaining the statutes has been difficult or
impossible for many scholars.
Furthermore, because they have not had access to the annual statutes, most
scholars have relied on the compilations of statutes, codes, or the revised
statutes, which were irregularly published or adopted in the states between 1789
and 1865. These volumes are useful, but they pose important problems. The
codes and revised statutes usually only print laws in force at the time of the
revision or codification. Thus, many laws are not included in these volumes
because they were passed after the printing of one revision or code and either
repealed or forgotten prior to preparation of the next code or revision. Because
laws are a mirror of a society's attitudes and goals, scholarship is distorted
and undermined when researchers fail to examine short-lived laws.
Equally important, compilations, codes, and revisions often deliberately ig-
nore private laws, certain kinds of special legislation, and legislative resolu-
tions. In addition, some laws, like statutes imposing taxes, are not found in
compilations and codes.
A good example of the problem of changing laws and the importance of
private acts is the way Virginia dealt with manumission. In 1782 Virginia pass-
ed a law allowing masters to free their slaves at will and further allowing
manumitted slaves to remain in the state after they were given their freedom.
In 1805 the legislature passed a new statute requiring that recently manumit-
ted slaves leave the state within six months. In 1815 a new law allowed slaves
to remain in the state if they were manumitted for ' 'acts of extraordinary merit.' '
viii State Slavery Statutes