The Czar and the Slaves: Two Puzzles in the History of International Arbitration

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ostdiek, Bennett; Witt, John Fabian
• 署名单位: Yale University; Yale University; Yale University; Yale University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-9300
• DOI: 10.1017/ajil.2019.23
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 535-567
• 关键词: canadian-american boundary; re-enslavement; TRADE; abolition; commissions; TREATIES; dispute; COURTS; STATES; LAW

摘要

In 1822, the Russian czar resolved a dispute over compensation for slaves fleeing to British lines during the War of 1812. American observers have long asserted that this canonical decision favored the United States. But new debate has recently arisen among historians. Uncovering evidence from diplomatic archives, this Article concludes that the czar did indeed side with the United States. Moreover, the case demonstrates how nineteenth-century American statesmen pressed international law into service in support of slavery.