Personal Liberty Laws
Slavery, Sovereignty, Nullification, and the Civil War
The recent controversy over Confederate monuments has reignited debate about the very nature of the War Between the States, also known as the “Civil War.” Union apologists tend to argue that it was all about slavery. Confederate sympathizers claim it...
A Brief History of “Sanctuary Cities”
The following article by H. Robert Baker was originally published at Topics of Meta – Historiography for the Masses. As everyone with a twitter feed already knows, Donald J. Trump is no friend of immigrants. In a spate of hot-headed executive orders this week,...
A History of Rendition Resistance by States: From Fugitive Slaves to Immigration
Throughout a period spanning over two decades in the 19th century, northern states rejected and refused to honor rendition requests under the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850. Today, we see a similar dynamic at play when states and localities decline to hold...
Nullification Through Noncooperation Rests on Rock-Solid Legal Ground
Nullification feels a little rebellious. Declaring that a state can refuse to cooperate with the federal government seems like an act of defiance. Perhaps this explains why even many supporters of nullification continue to labor under the misconception that it’s...