1832 JOHN SERGEANT. Select Speeches on Slavery in Missouri & in Defense of the Cherokee Nation's Sovereignty.

A much-used example of John Sergeant’s 1832 influential, Select Speeches. His often expansive and highly detailed discourses played a significant role in legislative and legal history as it pertains both to early support for anti-slavery ideals and the defense of Native American sovereignty. 

The speeches contain, among others, Sergeant's influential, extensive speech on the Missouri Question, delivered in the House of Representatives. It was perhaps the landmark legal and moral argument against the expansion of slavery into new Western territories.

The volume also includes his historic legal argument as lead counsel for the Cherokee Nation in the monumental Supreme Court case Cherokee Nation v. Georgia. In this argument, Sergeant vigorously defended Indigenous land rights and sovereignty against state encroachment, making the book a cornerstone text for understanding the early federal debates over forced Indian removal and the constitutional battles surrounding human rights and tribal autonomy.

Inexplicably scarce on the market; no copies in the trade at the time of cataloging and none we trace at auction. 

Sergeant, John [1779-1852, Representative from Pennsylvania]. Select Speeches of John Sergeant of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia. E. L. Carey & A. Hart - Chestnut Street. 1832. 367pp.

Fair only, quarter cloth with paper boards, heavily rubbed, some staining. Period ex library in pastedown. Rear board has significant bump near upper meeting with spine. Moderately foxed throughout. For all that, reasonably solid and quite scarce on the market.