author
Joel Tiffany
1811–1893
A restless 19th-century thinker, lawyer, and reform writer, he moved easily between constitutional argument, antislavery advocacy, and spiritual inquiry. His books capture the energy of an era when law, politics, and belief were all being argued in public.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Connecticut in 1811, Joel Tiffany built a varied career as a lawyer, teacher, and writer. Records of his published work show a wide range of interests, from legal practice to political theory, and he became known for substantial books on trusts, New York legal procedure, government, and constitutional law.
He is especially remembered for writing against slavery. His Treatise on the Unconstitutionality of American Slavery argued that slavery was incompatible with the U.S. constitutional system, placing him among the many 19th-century authors who used print as a tool of reform as well as debate.
Tiffany also wrote on spiritualism, including lectures and later books on occult and spiritual subjects, which suggests how broadly his curiosity ranged. He died in 1893, leaving behind a body of work that reflects several of the biggest intellectual and moral arguments of his century.