Slavery and Crime in Missouri, 1773-1865 [Hardcover]

Harriet C. Frazier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2001 | ISBN-10: 0786409770 | ISBN-13: 978-0786409778

Slavery and its lasting effects have long been an issue in America, with the scars inflicted running deep. This study examines crimes such as stealing, burglary, arson, rape and murder committed against and by slaves, with most of the author's information coming from handwritten court records and newspapers. These documents show the death penalty rarely applied when a slave killed another slave, but that it always applied when a slave killed a white person. Despite Missouri's grim criminal justice system, the state's best lawyers were called upon to represent slaves in court on serious criminal charges, and federal law applied to all persons, granting slaves in Missouri protection that few other slave states had. By 1860, Missouri's population was only 10 percent slave, the smallest percentage of any slave state in America.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"comprehensive…an interesting and illuminating account of law and society in a slaveholding jurisdiction…valuable…recommended" --Catholic Library World

"illustrates superbly the major discontinuity in American slave law...excellent" --Civil War Book Review

"depth and extensiveness of research" --The Mount Newsletter --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

A retired law professor who taught in the Criminal Justice Department, Central Missouri State University, Harriet C. Frazier now lives in Kansas City, Missouri.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 324 pages
• Publisher: Mcfarland & Co Inc Pub (July 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786409770
• ISBN-13: 978-0786409778
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,887,297 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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