The Unionist established itself quickly, both for content and for reliabity, with its coverage of the three trials under the Black Law. Prudence Crandall had been arrested in June; the first trial occurred August 22-23, 1833. The transcripts from the trial were printed in The Unionist in the August 29 (1:5) and September 5 (1:6) issues. The leading paper in Connecticut, the Connecticut Courant reprinted these transcripts, prominently crediting The Unionist. The arguments and strategies used by Crandall’s all-star defense team in this first trial are historically important, forming a key legacy in American civil rights. William Ellsworth, in particular, defended the immunity of the Black students against the sadistic requirement that they testify against themselves. The students retained their discipline in this atmosphere, and won accolades for doing so. The arguments of Ellsworth, and the comportment and strong witness by the Black students, resulted in a hung jury, News of the trial, and with it the prestige of The Unionist, spread.

The second trial, held October 3-4, 1833, was a rushed attempt by the opposition to crush the ideological impact, and reverse the verdict, of the first trial. The coverage in The Unionist was more subdued, with the testimony of the witnesses not being included in their entirety. But the charge to the jury by the noted David Daggett, which was blatant in its white supremacist logic, was published. Daggett’s denial of Black citizenship would be met in the succeeding issues of The Unionist.

While it seems most likely that the third trial, with the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, in July 1834, was printed in The Unionist, no direct evidence of this has been discovered yet. The transcription of this final trial will be added to this data base soon, to ensure that these primary materials are gathered together for scholars, students, and activists. Ellsworth’s arguments, especially from the First trial, will re-emerge in Brown-v-Board of Education in the 1954. Daggett’s arguments from the Second trial made a most unfortunate return in the devastating Dred Scott decision of 1857.

For Further Reference

• Finkelman, Paul. Slavery in the Courtroom: An Annotated Bibliography of American Cases. Washington: Library of Congress, 1985.
• Rycenga, Jennifer. Schooling a Nation: Students and Teachers at Prudence Crandall’s Female Academy. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, forthcoming 2024.
• Weiner, Mark S. Black Trials: Citizenship from the Beginnings of Slavery to the End of Caste. New York: Vintage Books, 2004.
• Williams, Donald E. Jr. Prudence Crandall’s Legacy: The Fight for Equality in the 1830s, Dred Scott, and Brown v. Board of Education. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2014.