This lecture, created by the Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project, traces the development of law and legal institutions in Illinois, beginning with early colonization and ending with the mid-1800s. It focuses particularly on the laws dealing with land and property ownership.
This lecture, created by the Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project, traces the development of religious institutions and trends in antebellum Illinois, beginning with the early days of Western exploration of North America and continuing to the mid-1800s. It focuses particularly on the importation of New England Protestant social reform ideals and the migration of Mormons to Illinois—a migration which led to the rise of the city of Nauvoo and, eventually, to the Mormon War.
John Mack Faragher of Yale University discusses the institutions of the law and the maintenance of public peace in the antebellum frontier, particularly in Illinois. He focuses particularly on the role of local Justices of the Peace.
To view this clip, select "Law and Society in Frontier Illinois" under "Law and Society Video."
Charles McCurdy of the University of Virginia examines the distribution of bank paper by banks in the antebellum U.S. frontier lands and the legal problems that arose when banks issued more notes than they were able to pay.
To view this clip, select "Banks in Antebellum Illinois" under "Economic Development and Labor Video."
Charles McCurdy of the University of Virginia discusses the use of promissory-note and bill-of-exchange systems in antebellum U.S. frontier lands and the legal complexities of ensuring that such bills would be paid as promised.
Charles McCurdy of the University of Virginia gives an example of the complexities of land law in the antebellum U.S., using the case Brunson v. Kedzie to demonstrate the interplay and contradiction of state and federal laws.
Charles McCurdy of the University of Virginia offers an overview of the laws pertaining to mortgages and sale of land in the antebellum frontier areas.
To view this clip, select "Commercial Law and the Settlement of the Frontier" under "Economic Development and Labor Video."
Charles McCurdy of the University of Virginia overviews the federal land law covering division, sale, rights to, and distribution of new lands and resources in the antebellum West and Midwest.
To view this clip, select "Public Land Law and the Settlement of the Frontier" under "Economic Development and Labor Video."
Charles McCurdy of the University of Virginia outlines the legal cases that preceded the U.S. Supreme Court Case Dred Scott v. Sandford. McCurdy looks at the support, until the 1830s, of the master's side of cases involving slaves suing for freedom following time spent in a free state; the support, beginning in the 1830s, of the slave's side of such cases in free states; the life of Dred Scott prior to the case; and the climbing of the case up the U.S. court system.
Charles McCurdy of the University of Virginia discusses the ways in which states originally legally established or abolished slavery. He discusses particularly the gradual abolition of slavery (based on age and date of birth of African Americans) in states including Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey.