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303] people of Kansas a slavery constitution that they abhor, and in formation of which they have had no part.

[Resolutions of transmission.]

[Resolves of Maine, 1858, 186–188.]

On the eve of the Civil War, the State of Wisconsin, through her courts, her legislature and the action of her citizens, attempted to practically nullify the Fugitive Slave Law and obstruct the enforcement of the judgments of the Federal Courts. The facts are as follows: Sherman M. Booth, the editor of The Wisconsin Free Democrat, was held to trial before the United States District Court, on the charge of having aided in the forcible rescue of a fugitive slave, Joshua Glover, at Milwaukee, March 11, 1854. Before the session of the Court, Booth applied to Judge A. D. Smith, of the State Supreme Court, for a writ of habeas corpus. Smith took a pronounced state rights view and discharged Booth on the ground that the Fugitive Slave Law was "unconstitutional and void." The decision was affirmed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. (3 Wisconsin Reports, 1–135.) In course of time Booth was indicted by the United States District Court, and in Jan., 1855, tried and convicted. The news of his conviction excited great indignation throughout the State, meetings were held in various places and resolutions condemning the Fugitive Slave Law and demanding the enactment of a personal liberty law, and even threatening resistance, were adopted. Again the State Supreme Court released Booth on a writ of habeas corpus. On application, Chief Justice Taney issued a writ of error commanding the State Court to make return of its judgment and proceedings for review by Dec., 1855, but the State Court disregarded it. Finally, in March, 1857, the United States Supreme Court assumed jurisdiction in the case by procuring certified copies of the proceedings, and at the December term, 1858, reviewed and reversed the decision of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. (Ableman vs. Booth, 21 Howard, 506.)

As a result of the Glover affair the Legislature of Wisconsin had passed in 1857 a personal liberty law (Laws of Wis., 1857, 12), and in view of the recent decision of the Federal Court, they adopted, March 19, 1859, the subjoined protest and declaration of defiance, based on extreme state sovereignty ground. (Vote in the Assembly, 47 to 37; in the Senate, 13 to 12. Laws of Wis., 1859, 247, 248.) The voters followed this up the same year by electing Booth's attorney, Byron Paine, to the State Supreme Court on the state rights and anti-slavery issue. Although the State Courts refused to enforce the judgment, Booth was re-arrested by a United States Marshal, March 1,