Legal Rights
Prior to 1807, the 1787 U.S. Constitution and the 1793 Fugitive Slave Law were the lone laws on slavery that applied nationally. Other laws on slavery applied only to the State which had enacted them. The multi-faceted 1807 Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves which abolished the importation of slaves from Africa led to the creation of the blockade of Africa. The Act also regulated the coastwise slave trade, hence, it imparted legal rights to those slave traders who utilized the coastwise shipping of slaves in their business.
Read more about this topic: Coastwise Slave Trade
Famous quotes containing the words legal and/or rights:
“If he who breaks the law is not punished, he who obeys it is cheated. This, and this alone, is why lawbreakers ought to be punished: to authenticate as good, and to encourage as useful, law-abiding behavior. The aim of criminal law cannot be correction or deterrence; it can only be the maintenance of the legal order.”
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