Slavery’s Fugitives and the Making of the United States Constitution unearths a long-hidden factor that led to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. While historians have generally acknowledged that patriot leaders assembled in response to postwar economic chaos, the threat of popular insurgencies, and the inability of the states to agree on how to fund the national government, Timothy Messer-Kruse suggests that scholars have discounted Americans’ desire to compel Britain to return fugitives from slavery as a driving force behind the convention. During the Revolutionary War, British governors offered freedom to enslaved Americans who joined the king’s army. Thousands responded by fleeing to English camps. After the British defeat at Yorktown, American diplomats demanded the surrender of fugitive slaves. When British generals refused, several states confiscated Loyalist estates and blocked payment of English creditors, hoping to apply enough pressure on the Crown to hand over the runaways. State laws conflicting with the 1783 Treaty of Paris violated the Articles of Confederation—the young nation’s first constitution—but Congress, lacking an executive branch or a federal judiciary, had no means to obligate states to comply. The standoff over the escaped slaves quickly escalated following the Revolution as Britain failed to abandon the western forts it occupied and took steps to curtail American commerce. More than any other single matter, the impasse over the return of enslaved Americans threatened to hamper the nation’s ability to expand westward, develop its commercial economy, and establish itself as a power among the courts of Europe. Messer-Kruse argues that the issue encouraged the founders to consider the prospect of scrapping the Articles of Confederation and drafting a superseding document that would dramatically increase federal authority—the Constitution.

Tells the story of a sensational 1791 Virginia murder case, and explores Revolutionary America's debates over justice, criminal punishment, and equality before the law.

This significant new reference book provides a complete list of the ships of the Royal Navy which were lost at sea in the age of sail. Arranged in chronological order, it includes outline details of each vessel lost and the circumstances of her loss. 1649 is the start date, which coincides with the execution of Charles I and that time when the Royal Navy entered a new phase as an instrument of state: the launch of the steam-powered and iron-hulled Warrior in 1860 effectively marks the end of the great era of the wooden-hulled sailing warship. Life at sea in the age of sail was a hazardous pursuit, and there were many reasons for a ship being lost. A correspondent to the Nautical Magazine in 1841 detailed some fifty reasons and causes, from being short of crew, abandonment without sufficient cause, the poor condition of a ship, incorrectness of charts, poor dead-reckoning as well as less obvious reasons such as ‘the presence of captains’ wives and other women.’ Navigational error, particularly before the chronometer allowed for the accurate calculation of longitude, was a common reason, while poor weather in the form of fog or gales was an obvious peril. So many ships suffered the melancholy fate of lonely disappearance – overwhelmed by storm and sea, and witnessed by none. Collisions and fire feature regularly as does, of course, loss to the enemy. Each entry includes details of the ship, its name and type, tonnage and dimensions, origin and place of build, the circumstances of the loss, the date and a list of the main references used. All this material is presented here in a single and highly accessible volume, and represents a major milestone both in naval research and publishing; it offers too a fund of fascinating and compelling stories of maritime misadventure. Praise for the author's previous work: ‘This volume is an amazing encyclopaedic, catalogue of British warships lost between 1920 and 1982 It is strongly recommended to historians, authors, researchers and all those with an interest in the history of the Royal Navy and the Second World War.’ -Scuttlebut Magazine

The evolution of the federal prosecutor's role from a pragmatic necessity to a significant political figure. In the United States, federal prosecutors enjoy a degree of power unmatched elsewhere in the world. They are free to investigate and prosecute—or decline to prosecute—criminal cases without significant oversight. And yet, no statute grants them these powers; their role is not mentioned in the Constitution. How did they obtain this power, and are they truly independent from the political process? In Constitutional Inquisitors, Scott Ingram answers these questions by tracing the origins and development of federal criminal law enforcement. In the first book to examine the development of the federal law enforcement apparatus in the earliest part of the early republic, Ingram explains how federal prosecutors' roles began as an afterthought but quickly evolved into powerful political positions. He also addresses two long-held perceptions about early federal criminal prosecution: that prosecutors tried many more cases than historians thought and that the relationship between prosecution and executive power is much more complex and interwoven than commonly assumed. Drawing on materials at the National Archives as well as correspondence and trial reports, Ingram explores the first federal criminal case, the first use of presidential pardon power, the first federal prosecution of a female, and the first interstate criminal investigation. He also discloses internal Administration discussions involving major criminal cases, including those arising from the Whiskey Insurrection, Neutrality Crisis, Alien and Sedition Acts, and Fries' Rebellion. As the United States grapples today with political divisions and arguments over who should be prosecuted for what, Constitutional Inquisitors reveals that these problems began with the creation of the federal prosecutor role and have continued as the role gained power.