Prigg v. Pennsylvania: slavery, the Supreme Court, and the ambivalent constitution

A short history of fugitives in America and an African named James Somerset

The original meaning of the fugitive slave clause

The Fugitive Slave Act, kidnapping, and the powers of dual sovereigns

The rights of slaveholders and those of free Blacks in Pennsylvania's Personal Liberty Law of 1826

Black sailors, kidnapped freemen, and a crisis in northern fugitive slave jurisprudence

Arresting Margaret

Arresting Edward Prigg

Before the court

Deciding Prigg

After the court.