How American Law and the American Constitution Defined Slavery

Finkelman offers a detailed analysis of the creation of legal foundations for the institution of slavery, first in the British North American colonies and then in the United States. The English legal system excluded slavery, but a foundation gradually began to appear in the colonies' local legislation (and subsequently in the US Constitution).according to which slaves were not considered people legal subjects but rather property. Finkelman examines the exact workings of this process, whereby black slaves were legally assigned the status of property belonging to whites. This practice led, on the eve of the Civil War, to the notorious Dred Scott vs. Sandford decision, when this status was legally confirmed for both slaves and the entire black population of the United States.