The Chase Court (1864–73)Introduction |
What views made Chase well-known before his elevation to the U.S. Supreme Court? |
Chase was known for his antislavery views, believing that the “peculiar institution” was a moral abomination. Chase defended many abolitionists who had harbored fugitive slaves from the South. His defense of abolitionists earned him the moniker the “attorney general for runaway negroes.” Chase’s antislavery views caused him to join the Liberty Party and then the Free Soil Party.