An Imperfect Union: Slavery, Federalism, and Comity

Studies in Legal History

by Paul Finkelman

Reprint of the first and only edition. Originally Chapel The University of North Carolina Press, 1981. xii, 378 pp. Finkelman describes the judicial turmoil that ensued when slaves were taken into free states, and the resultant issues of the conflict of laws, comity and cooperation between the states, their Constitutional obligations, and the threat of the nationalization of slavery.

390 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Paul Finkelman is an American legal historian. He received his undergraduate degree in American studies from Syracuse University in 1971, and his master's degree (1972) and doctorate (1976) in American history from the University of Chicago.