AM I NOT A MAN?; The Dred Scott Story

Shurtleff, Mark L.

ISBN 10: 1935546007 / ISBN 13: 9781935546009

Published by Valor Publishing Group, LLC, Orem, Utah, 2009

About this Item

INSCRIBED by the Author--an attorney--on the half title, tall 8vo, black textured cloth [simulating whip scarring?] with bold gold lettering on spine, archival mylar-protected pictorial dust jacket (unclipped) depicting a slave in chains, illustrated with B&W period images as chapter headings, 534 pages. Like NEW COPY INSCRIBED by former State Attorney Mark Shurtleff (born 1957) to another attorney who fought for civil rights justice! In an address, Shurtleff once sumarized: "Dred Scott's inspiring and compelling true story of adventure, courage, love, hatred, and friendship parallels the history of this nation from the long night of slavery to the narrow crack in the door that would ultimately lead to freedom and equality for all men." Dred Scott (c. 1799 1858) was an enslaved African American man who with his wife, Harriet, unsuccessfully sued for their freedom and that of their two daughters in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case of 1857, aka the "Dred Scott decision." In a landmark case, the United States Supreme Court under Chief Justice Roger B. Taney decided 7 2 against Scott, finding that neither he nor any other person of African ancestry could claim citizenship in the United States despite temporary residence in free territory. Public outrage over the heartless decision helped fuel passions leading up to the Civil War. , President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, and the post-Civil War Reconstruction Amendments the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments nullified the Dred Scott decision. The family was freed by private arrangement in May 1857, though Dred Scott died of tuberculosis a year later. No previous owner or remainder marks.

Seller Inventory # 10181

Bibliographic Details

• Title: AM I NOT A MAN?; The Dred Scott Story
• Publisher: Valor Publishing Group, LLC, Orem, Utah
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1935546007
• ISBN 13: 9781935546009
• Binding: Cloth
• Illustrator: Maps & Period Images
• Edition: First Edition, First Printing.
• Condition: Very Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Historical Fiction

About this title

Synopsis

An illiterate slave, Dred Scott trusted in an all-white, slave-owning jury to declare him free. But after briefly experiencing the glory of freedom and manhood, a new state Supreme Court ordered the cold steel of the shackles to be closed again around his wrists and ankles. Falling to his knees, Dred cried, "Ain't I a man?" Dred answered his own question by rising and taking his fight to the U.S. Supreme Court. Dred ultimately lost his epic battle when the Chief Justice declared that a black man was so inferior that he had "no rights a white man was bound to respect." Dred died not knowing that his unfailing courage led directly to the election of President Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation. Dred Scott's inspiring and compelling true story of adventure, courage, love, hatred, and friendship parellels the history of this nation from the long night of slavery to the narrow crack in the door that would ultimately lead to freedom and equality for all men.

About the Author

Mark L. Shurtleff attended Brigham Young University, University of Utah College of Law, and University of San Diego School of Law. He began his Legal Career by serving four years in the United States Navy Judge Advocate Corps (JAG), then as a lawyer in Southern California. Mark then moved back to Utah and worked as a Deputy County Attorney and as Commissioner of Salt Lake County. He later became an Assistant Attorney General for the state of Utah. He was elected Attorney General in November 2000, and was re-elected in 2004 and 2008. He is the first Attorney General in Utah to win re-election for a third term. Mark is married with five children. He is an Eagle Scout and is fluent in Spanish.