Amazon.com description: Product Description: Real History is that which is written at the time, by the people who lived it. In 1845 slavery was reaching its peak of power, and the political conflicts that had been brewing for decades were not far from reaching the point of no return. Although modern scholars have studied the legal aspects of slavery, it cannot be free of the taint of today's point of view. We can talk about what it was like, but we cannot know what it was like. We grew up, were educated, and experienced a different world than anyone who lived in 1840s America - - and while we have the benefit of perspective and greater objectivity (hopefully), we suffer from not knowing what the people of the time thought and believed, how they viewed the world. Lysander Spooner gives us a unique look at slavery and its legal standing – while it was happening around him.