Aaron reviewed The rescue of Joshua Glover by H. Robert Baker (Ohio University Press series on law, society, and politics in the midwest)
Fugitive Slave Act in Wisconsin
4 stars
Over the past few years there has been a remarkable growth of literature on the Fugitive Slave Act, Underground Railroad, and how enslaved people fought to claim their freedom. Baker's book takes a look at a specific case in Wisconsin in the 1850s. Baker follows the case as it wended through the courts, and one of the benefits of the book is the close attention that Baker plays to local politics and local conditions on the ground. One chapter opens with a consideration of minstrelsy and how these groups "interpretation" of Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin reflect the attitudes towards African Americans in Wisconsin. But the larger issue in this book is how Americans responded when they disagreed with the decisions of the courts. "Constitutional resistance had not been invoked merely to exalt the rights of the states," Baker writes on page 176, "but to defend the constitutional guarantee of liberty …
Over the past few years there has been a remarkable growth of literature on the Fugitive Slave Act, Underground Railroad, and how enslaved people fought to claim their freedom. Baker's book takes a look at a specific case in Wisconsin in the 1850s. Baker follows the case as it wended through the courts, and one of the benefits of the book is the close attention that Baker plays to local politics and local conditions on the ground. One chapter opens with a consideration of minstrelsy and how these groups "interpretation" of Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin reflect the attitudes towards African Americans in Wisconsin. But the larger issue in this book is how Americans responded when they disagreed with the decisions of the courts. "Constitutional resistance had not been invoked merely to exalt the rights of the states," Baker writes on page 176, "but to defend the constitutional guarantee of liberty of Wisconsin's citizens." The Fugitive Slave Act, personal liberty laws, and arguments about freedom in the antebellum area forced Americans to wrestle with these questions about liberty not only in their in politics but also in the court system. Baker's book tells a compelling story about how Americans who disagreed with the court's actions worked to meet this particular challenge.