Dred Scott's Advocate: A Biography of Roswell M. Field (Missouri Biography Series) - Hardcover

Kaufman, Kenneth C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0826210929 ISBN 13: 9780826210920

Publisher: Univ of Missouri Pr, 1996

Synopsis

Recreates the story of more than a decade of litigation as Dred Scott maneuvered his way through the American judicial system with the help of Field, who took the case from Missouri to the Supreme Court. For readers of American, African American, and legal history. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

About this title

From Library Journal:

Kaufman, a freelance scholar based in St. Louis, uses scattered archival collections and secondary sources to flesh out the life of the lawyer who became Dred Scott's attorney in 1852 and helped steer his case to the Supreme Court. Although one of the best property lawyers in Missouri, the antislavery Field was unable to overcome the proslavery bias of the court. Fragmentary evidence leads to a heavy use of phrases like perhaps and must have been. Frustrating because of this speculativeness, Kaufman's work is nonetheless a well-written attempt to re-create the life of an intriguing minor actor in the history of the antebellum United States. For academic libraries.?Anthony O. Edmonds, Ball State Univ., Muncie, Ind.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review:

This strong biography of Roswell M. Field, an attorney who successfully defended a penniless slave named Dred Scott, uses a review of the character of Field to consider the reasons why he spent his life fighting for Scott. This is no dry review of facts but a lively consideration of changes in legal and racial precedent and how Field's mission fostered change. -- Midwest Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Univ of Missouri Pr
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0826210929
• ISBN 13: 9780826210920
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 264