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The American Crisis Over Slavery: An Example of the Relationship Between Legality and Morality

The American Crisis Over Slavery: An Example of the Relationship Between Legality and Morality THE AMERICAN CRISIS OVER SLAVERY: AN EXAMPLE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEGALITY AND MORALITY PETER J. RIGA How did a whole legal system uphold an institution as vile—and recognized as vile by all of the major jurists of the slavery period— as that of slavery which conflicted with "higher law"? The Ameri- can institution of slavery epitomized the age-old conflict between some form of "higher law" and human positive law. The problem was not new but the way it evolved in American life, aided and abetted by the American legal system, could only and inevitably lead to the tragedy which ensued. Simply put, there was an inher- ent conflict and contradiction in the American legal and political system which could be solved only by the people. When the U.S. Supreme Court attempted to solve this basically moral question, disaster ensued. INTRODUCTION THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAW AND MORALS has been a debated question in Western culture from the time of Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas.1 The struggle in this respect has been intensified in the West with Judeo-Christianity, since Christianity recognized some form of higher law to which human law was subordinate for its legitimacy.2 When Christianity became the http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png American Journal of Jurisprudence Oxford University Press

The American Crisis Over Slavery: An Example of the Relationship Between Legality and Morality

Riga, Peter J.
American Journal of Jurisprudence , Volume 26 (1) – Jan 1, 1981
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Publisher
Oxford University Press
Copyright
© 1981 by The University of Notre Dame
ISSN
0065-8995
eISSN
2049-6494
DOI
10.1093/ajj/26.1.80
Publisher site
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Abstract

THE AMERICAN CRISIS OVER SLAVERY: AN EXAMPLE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEGALITY AND MORALITY PETER J. RIGA How did a whole legal system uphold an institution as vile—and recognized as vile by all of the major jurists of the slavery period— as that of slavery which conflicted with "higher law"? The Ameri- can institution of slavery epitomized the age-old conflict between some form of "higher law" and human positive law. The problem was not new but the way it evolved in American life, aided and abetted by the American legal system, could only and inevitably lead to the tragedy which ensued. Simply put, there was an inher- ent conflict and contradiction in the American legal and political system which could be solved only by the people. When the U.S. Supreme Court attempted to solve this basically moral question, disaster ensued. INTRODUCTION THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAW AND MORALS has been a debated question in Western culture from the time of Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas.1 The struggle in this respect has been intensified in the West with Judeo-Christianity, since Christianity recognized some form of higher law to which human law was subordinate for its legitimacy.2 When Christianity became the

Journal

American Journal of Jurisprudence – Oxford University Press

Published: Jan 1, 1981

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