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WILLIAM SEWARD FOR THE DEFENSE -THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL USE OF THE INSANITY PLEA (LAW.) The Trial of William Freeman, for the Murder of John G. Van
WILLIAM SEWARD FOR THE DEFENSE -THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL USE OF THE INSANITY PLEA (LAW.) The Trial of William Freeman, for the Murder of John G. Van Nest. 8vo, original publisher's calf. Auburn, 1848
- Notes: first edition. William Seward was no stranger to the courts in defense of slaves. He made legal history with his closing arguments on behalf of William Freeman, a mentally deficient Black who had been accused of the multiple murder of John Van Nest and his entire family. In his closing argument he addressed the jury saying, "You gentlemen, have, or ought to have, lifted up your souls above the bondage of prejudices so narrow and so mean as these. The color of the prisoner's skin, and the form of his features, are not impressed upon the spiritual, immortal mind which works beneath. Hold him then to be a Man." McDade 325.
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