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.
Eric Foner of Columbia University examines the effect of the Dred Scott v. Sandford U.S. Supreme Court decision on the state of antebellum U.S. politics, focusing particularly on the divisive effects it had within the Democratic party.
To view this clip, select "The Dred Scott Decision and National Politics" under "African-American Experience Video."
Eric Foner of Columbia University outlines the results of the Dred Scott v. Sandford U.S. Supreme Court case, which institutionalized the exclusion of African Americans from citizenship, and Republican denunciation of the Court's decision (including Abraham Lincoln's opposition to the ruling).
To view this clip, select "The Dred Scott Decision of 1857" under "African-American Experience Video."
Eric Foner of Columbia University discusses the implementation of the Fugitive Slave Law and Northern reactions to it. He also considers the contradiction between Southern support of the Fugitive Slave Law and of state rights, as well as Abraham Lincoln's own political (if not personal) support of the Fugitive Slave Law.
To view this clip, select "Fugitive Slaves and the Compromise of 1850" under "African-American Experience Video."
James O. Horton of George Washington University gives examples of incidences of recovery of fugitive slaves and kidnapping of free blacks in the North, following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law; and discusses the contradiction between Southern support of the Fugitive Slave Law and Southern support of state rights.
To view this clip, select "The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850" under "African-American Experience Video."
Professor Clarence Walker details the 1857 U.S. Supreme Court case Dred Scott v. Sandford, in which the Court ruled that individuals of African descent could not be U.S. citizens and that the federal government could not prohibit slavery in the territories. He examines the significance of this case in U.S. history and also previous racist rulings in the U.S.
Professor Robin Einhorn examines the text and context of the Declaration of Independence, including the contradictions within the text and the structure of the text.