--- title: Civil War, States' Rights, Slavery and a Forgotten Supreme Court Case description: Texas politicians just approved textbooks that claim the South seceded over states' rights. This case is evidence that theory's wrong. canonical: https://time.com/3955321/ableman-booth/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-13T18:00:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:02:32.055Z article:section: History og:title: This Supreme Court Case Shows the Antebellum South's Take on States' Rights og:description: Texas politicians just approved textbooks that claim the South seceded over states' rights og:url: https://time.com/3955321/ableman-booth/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e60e1e6b2c9521f/69885a980b72e376776e4e14/taney.jpeg?branch=production&width=631&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 631 og:image:height: 355 og:image:alt: Roger Brooke Taney og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Supreme Court Case Shows the Antebellum South's Take on States' Rights twitter:description: Texas politicians just approved textbooks that claim the South seceded over states' rights twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e60e1e6b2c9521f/69885a980b72e376776e4e14/taney.jpeg?branch=production&width=631&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Supreme Court Case That Proves the Antebellum South Wasn’t Really Concerned With States' Rights > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. by [Roy Finkenbine / History News Network](https://time.com/author/history-news-network/) ## Roy Finkenbine / History News Network Jul 13, 2015 6:00 PM UTC  Roger B, Taney, in a painting by Anderson Roger B, Taney, in a painting by Anderson Encyclopaedia Britannica / UIG / Getty Images by [Roy Finkenbine / History News Network](https://time.com/author/history-news-network/) ## Roy Finkenbine / History News Network Jul 13, 2015 6:00 PM UTC  History News Network _This post is in partnership with the_ [_History News Network_](http://historynewsnetwork.org/)_, the website that puts the news into historical perspective. A version of the article below was originally published at_ [_HNN._](http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/159936) A few days ago, Texas adopted new social studies textbooks, based on recently-approved state standards. These textbooks imply that sectionalism and states rights were the primary causes of the Civil War; slavery was, at most, a secondary motive. Pat Hardy, a member of the board that created the new state standards, asserts that slavery was a “side issue to the Civil War. . . . There would be those who would say the reason for the Civil War was over slavery. No. It was over states rights.” Similar claims have been heard from opponents of the recent efforts to take down the Confederate battle flag in the wake of the mass shooting at Emmanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston. It is to correct such historical misrepresentations that I regularly introduce my students to the little-known U.S. Supreme Court case of _Ableman_ v. _Booth_. The origins of the case came in 1852 when Joshua Glover, a Missouri slave, fled to the free state of Wisconsin and settled near Racine. Two years later, his owner, Benjamin S. Garland, tracked him there. Utilizing provisions of the recently-enacted federal Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Garland obtained a warrant for Glover’s capture from the federal fugitive slave commissioner in the area. With the assistance of a deputy marshal, he forced his way into Glover’s cabin, physically assaulted him, bound him, and escorted him to the jail in Milwaukee, where he was placed in federal custody. When this became known, Sherman W. Booth, a local abolitionist and the editor of an antislavery newspaper, obtained a writ of habeas corpus from a county judge for Glover’s release. Noting that the slave was in federal custody and was captured under federal law, Steven V. Ableman, the U.S. marshal responsible for holding Glover, refused to honor the order of the lower court. Before long, a crowd broke into the jail and rescued Glover; he was never recaptured. Booth and others were soon indicted for violating the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850\. Thus began a long jurisdictional dispute between the federal government and the Wisconsin courts. Federal jurists (including many of southern pedigree) demanded that Wisconsin hew to federal authority. Wisconsin jurists argued that their state had a constitutional right to protect one of its citizens against the enforcement of an unconstitutional federal law. Even the Wisconsin Supreme Court sought to interpose itself between Glover and the U.S. government. Paradoxically, given the fact that 48 percent of Americans today believe that states rights was the primary cause of the Civil War, the southern press argued that there was no state right to resist the federal Fugitive Slave Law. Strong federal enforcement of the statute was essential to protecting their property rights in slaves. The case eventually made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court as _Ableman_ v. _Booth_. Writing for a unanimous court in 1859, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney argued that state and local courts (or governments) could not interpose themselves between fugitive slaves, or those aiding fugitive slaves, and federal efforts at enforcement. To do so, he lectured, “would subvert the very foundations of this Government.” Taney contended, in effect, that there was no constitutional claim to states rights in the face of federal law. Ironically, Taney held slaves and had become a leading advocate for slavery; four of his fellow justices were also slaveholders. In spite of its nationalist stance, the decision was enthusiastically endorsed by proslavery politicians, preachers, and the press in the South. Even after the decision, details of Booth’s case continued to play out in the federal courts until President James Buchanan pardoned him as he was leaving office in 1861. On the eve of the Civil War, white southerners used whatever constitutional stance best served the goal of defending the existence of their “peculiar institution.” Sometimes a states rights argument promoted that purpose, sometimes reliance on federal authority did. Recalling the late 1850s from the vantage point of the post-war years, Senator Carl Schurz, a Missourian, observed that “in the North, as well as in the South, men’s sympathies in regard to slavery shaped and changed their political doctrines and their constitutional theories.” Thus, politicians in either region could invoke federal authority or states rights depending on which was most convenient. A look at the declarations of secession conventions, newspaper editorials, and political speeches from 1860-61 makes clear that southern leaders seceded and went to war to protect slavery and tamp down fears of racial equality. Only in the wake of Appomattox did former Confederates assert that the conflict had been waged over constitutional principles. _Ableman_ v. _Booth_ demonstrates the historical inaccuracy of contemporary claims that the South fought for states rights. Texas politicians should become familiar with the case. _Finkenbine is Professor of History and Director of the Black Abolitionist Archives at the University of Detroit Mercy._ ### See the American Civil War in Color Photographs  Allan Pinkerton, President Lincoln, and Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand; at the main eastern theater of the war, Battle of Antietam, Sept.-Oct., 1862. Alexander Gardner—Library of Congress  Allan Pinkerton, President Lincoln, and Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand; at the main eastern theater of the war, Battle of Antietam, Sept.-Oct., 1862. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Alexander Gardner—Library of Congress  Surgeons of the 3rd Division before hospital tent in Petersburg, Va., Aug. 1864. Library of Congress  Surgeons of the 3rd Division before hospital tent in Petersburg, Va., Aug. 1864. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Library of Congress  John L. Burns, the "old hero of Gettysburg," with gun and crutches in Gettysburg, Penn., July, 1863. Mathew Brady—Library of Congress  John L. Burns, the "old hero of Gettysburg," with gun and crutches in Gettysburg, Penn., July, 1863. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Mathew Brady—Library of Congress  Washington, District of Columbia. Tent life of the 31st Penn. Inf. at Queen's farm, vicinity of Fort Slocum in Washington, DC, 1861. Library of Congress  Washington, District of Columbia. Tent life of the 31st Penn. Inf. at Queen's farm, vicinity of Fort Slocum in Washington, DC, 1861. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Library of Congress  Allan Pinkerton ("E. J. Allen") of the Secret Service on horseback in Antietam, Md., Oct. 1862. Alexander Gardner—Library of Congress  Allan Pinkerton ("E. J. Allen") of the Secret Service on horseback in Antietam, Md., Oct. 1862. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Alexander Gardner—Library of Congress  Cock fighting at Gen. Orlando B. Willcox's headquarters in Petersburg, Va., 1864. David Knox—Library of Congress  Cock fighting at Gen. Orlando B. Willcox's headquarters in Petersburg, Va., 1864. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: David Knox—Library of Congress  Camp of Captain \[John J.\] Hoff., in Gettysburg, Penn., July, 1865 William Morris Smith—Library of Congress  Camp of Captain \[John J.\] Hoff., in Gettysburg, Penn., July, 1865 Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: William Morris Smith—Library of Congress  African American legislator Robert Smalls of South Carolina. Library of Congress  African American legislator Robert Smalls of South Carolina. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Library of Congress  Portrait of Rear Adm. David D. Porter, officer of the Federal Navy, 1860. Mathew Brady—Library of Congress  Portrait of Rear Adm. David D. Porter, officer of the Federal Navy, 1860. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Mathew Brady—Library of Congress  Portrait of Maj. Gen. George A. Custer, officer of the Federal Army, 1865. Mathew Brady—Library of Congress  Portrait of Maj. Gen. George A. Custer, officer of the Federal Army, 1865. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Mathew Brady—Library of Congress  Portrait of President Abraham Lincoln, 1863. Alexander Gardner—Library of Congress  Portrait of President Abraham Lincoln, 1863. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Alexander Gardner—Library of Congress  President Lincoln on the battlefield Library of Congress  President Lincoln on the battlefield Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Library of Congress  President Lincoln and Gen. George B. McClellan in the general's tent, Antietam, Md., Sept. - Oct. 1862. Alexander Gardner—Library of Congress  President Lincoln and Gen. George B. McClellan in the general's tent, Antietam, Md., Sept. - Oct. 1862. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Alexander Gardner—Library of Congress  Capt. Custer of the 5th Cavalry is seen with Lt. Washington, a prisoner and former classmate. Library of Congress  Capt. Custer of the 5th Cavalry is seen with Lt. Washington, a prisoner and former classmate. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Library of Congress  Officer's mess, Company E, 93rd New York Volunteers, in Bealeton, Va., Aug., 1863 Timothy H. O'Sullivan—Library of Congress  Officer's mess, Company E, 93rd New York Volunteers, in Bealeton, Va., Aug., 1863 Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Timothy H. O'Sullivan—Library of Congress  Three Confederate prisoners in Gettysburg, Penn., June-July, 1863. Library of Congress  Three Confederate prisoners in Gettysburg, Penn., June-July, 1863. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Library of Congress  Dead on battlefield at 1st Bull Run, 1862-1865 Library of Congress  Dead on battlefield at 1st Bull Run, 1862-1865 Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Library of Congress  Dead Confederate sharpshooter at foot of Little Round Top on the battlefield at Gettysburg, July, 1863 Timothy H. O'Sullivan—Library of Congress  Dead Confederate sharpshooter at foot of Little Round Top on the battlefield at Gettysburg, July, 1863 Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Timothy H. O'Sullivan—Library of Congress  Remembering the dead at Sudley Church near Bull Run, Va. March 1862. George N. Barnard—Library of Congress  Remembering the dead at Sudley Church near Bull Run, Va. March 1862. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: George N. Barnard—Library of Congress  A surgical photo from the Surgeon General's War Department shows an injured soldier with both arms amputated. Library of Congress  A surgical photo from the Surgeon General's War Department shows an injured soldier with both arms amputated. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Library of Congress  Powder boy by gun of U.S.S. New Hampshire off the coast of Charleston, S.C., 1860. Library of Congress  Powder boy by gun of U.S.S. New Hampshire off the coast of Charleston, S.C., 1860. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Library of Congress  Unidentified African American soldier in Union uniform with wife and two daughters, 1863-1865. Library of Congress  Unidentified African American soldier in Union uniform with wife and two daughters, 1863-1865. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Library of Congress  Mary Todd Lincoln Mathew Brady—Library of Congress  Mary Todd Lincoln Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Mathew Brady—Library of Congress  Abraham Lincoln in a reflective pose, in Washington, DC, May 16, 1861. Mathew Brady—Library of Congress  Abraham Lincoln in a reflective pose, in Washington, DC, May 16, 1861. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Mathew Brady—Library of Congress  Lewis Payne, a conspirator in the assassination of President Lincoln, in the Washington Navy Yard, April-July 1865. Alexander Gardner—Library of Congress  Lewis Payne, a conspirator in the assassination of President Lincoln, in the Washington Navy Yard, April-July 1865. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Alexander Gardner—Library of Congress  David E. Herold, a conspirator in the assassination of President Lincoln, in the Washington Navy Yard, April-July 1865. Alexander Gardner—Library of Congress  David E. Herold, a conspirator in the assassination of President Lincoln, in the Washington Navy Yard, April-July 1865. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Alexander Gardner—Library of Congress  Frederick Douglass Library of Congress  Frederick Douglass Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Library of Congress  Portrait of Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, officer of the Federal Army, 1860-1865. Mathew Brady—Library of Congress  Portrait of Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, officer of the Federal Army, 1860-1865. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Mathew Brady—Library of Congress  The staff of Gen. Fitz-John Porter, Lieutenant William G. Jones and George A. Custer reclining at Falmouth, Va., 1863 Library of Congress  The staff of Gen. Fitz-John Porter, Lieutenant William G. Jones and George A. Custer reclining at Falmouth, Va., 1863 Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Library of Congress  Soldiers bathing near the ruins of a railroad bridge, North Anna River, Va, May, 1864. Timothy H. O'Sullivan—Library of Congress  Soldiers bathing near the ruins of a railroad bridge, North Anna River, Va, May, 1864. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Timothy H. O'Sullivan—Library of Congress  Alfred R. Waud, artist of Harper's Weekly, sketching on battlefield in Gettysburg, Penn., July 1863. Timothy H. O'Sullivan—Library of Congress  Alfred R. Waud, artist of Harper's Weekly, sketching on battlefield in Gettysburg, Penn., July 1863. Photo colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME; Original image: Timothy H. O'Sullivan—Library of Congress ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3955321/ableman-booth/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3955321/ableman-booth/"},"headline":"The Supreme Court Case That Proves the Antebellum South Wasn’t Really Concerned With States' Rights","datePublished":"2015-07-13T18:00:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:02:32.055Z","description":"Texas politicians just approved textbooks that claim the South seceded over states' rights. 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