Porter Broyles

“Justice Josiah Hoffman wrote the opinion for the supreme court, an opinion that proved every bit as favorable to the South as Riker, Wells, and others had hoped. The court declared that the requirement of a jury trial violated the US Constitution because “the legal rights of the Southern Slaveholder are so clearly defined, as at once to mark him, who in any way impede their exercise, as a violator of the public space.”
― Jonathan Daniel Wells, The Kidnapping Club: Wall Street, Slavery, and Resistance on the Eve of the Civil War

“Complicating matters, American spies, with the aid of Canary Islanders, were expected to enter Texas and instigate revolts. Canary Islanders had the right to obtain a license to enter Texas as Spanish subjects seeking to relocate to New Spain. Twenty years earlier, when Louisiana belonged to Spain, Canary Islanders were brought in to populate the region. Over 2,000 of them settled in Louisiana. Spanish officials now feared that these settlers’ loyalties lay with the United States.”
― Martha Menchaca, The Mexican American Experience in Texas: Citizenship, Segregation, and the Struggle for Equality

“In fact, the Southern District of New York became—in the eyes of activists like Ruggles—synonymous with the interests of southern slaveholders.”
― Jonathan Daniel Wells, The Kidnapping Club: Wall Street, Slavery, and Resistance on the Eve of the Civil War

“A court hearing held in the city of Monterey in 1820 illustrates what was required of escaped slaves hoping to stay in Mexico. To be emancipated and allowed to become immigrants, they had to demonstrate good character and convince a judge or audiencia that they had suffered intolerable cruelty at the hands of their masters. The Monterey hearing dealt with five emancipated African Americans who were given asylum in Texas but were later charged with being part of a band of thieves and stealing a horse. If found guilty, they were to be extradited to the United States.”
― Martha Menchaca, The Mexican American Experience in Texas: Citizenship, Segregation, and the Struggle for Equality