A biography of Simon Wilkin born 27 July 1790 at Costessey near Norwich, England the son of William Wilkin Wilkin and Cecilia Lucy. Simon was orphaned in Feb 1799 and was raised by his father's friend, Rev. Joseph Kinghorn. Simon died 2 Aug 1862 at Hampstead.

This ambitious book examines the constitutional and legal doctrines of the antislavery movement from the eve of the American Revolution to the Wilmot Proviso and the 1848 national elections. Relating political activity to constitutional thought, William M. Wiecek surveys the antislavery societies, the ideas of their individual members, and the actions of those opposed to slavery and its expansion into the territories. He shows that the idea of constitutionalism has popular origins and was not the exclusive creation of a caste of lawyers. In offering a sophisticated examination of both sides of the argument about slavery, he not only discusses court cases and statutes, but also considers a broad range of "extrajudicial" thought—political speeches and pamphlets, legislative debates and arguments.