天が墜ちようとも：奴隷制廃止に至った画期的な裁判 Though the Heavens May Fall: The Landmark Trial That Led to the End of Human Slavery

Wise, Steven M.

Grand Central Publishing（2006/01発売）

• 製本 Paperback:紙装版/ペーパーバック版／ページ数 320 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9780306814501
• DDC分類 342.420

基本説明

New in paperback. Hardcover was published in 2005. Reviewed in The New York Times Book Review, January 9, 2005. The author, the president of the Center for the Expansion of Fundamental Rights, traces with reverent care how the question of the legality of slavery developed within England, culminating in the famous trial in 1772.

Full Description

The case of James Somerset, an escaped slave, in June of 1772 in London's Westminster Hall was a decisive turning point in human history. Steven Wise has uncovered fascinating new revelations in this case, which statesmen of the time threatened would bring the economy of the British Empire to a crashing halt. In a gripping, hour-by-hour narrative of the trial and the inflamed participants, Wise leads the reader to the extraordinary and unexpected decision by the great conservative judge, Lord Mansfield, which led to the United States' own abolition movement. As the case drew to a close, and defenders of slavery pleaded with him to maintain the system, Mansfield's reply has resounded down through more than two centuries: "Let Justice be done, though the Heavens may fall."