[Non-Sequitur]

Well, keep looking. Let me know if you find something. The idea of trying someone for treason against a state he holds no allegiance to is still ridiculous. IMHO, of course.

[WhiskeyPapa]

st thWell, keep looking. Let me know if you find something. The idea of trying someone for treason against a state he holds no allegiance to is still ridiculous. IMHO, of course.

It's typical of the neo-rebs to say it was okay for Brown to be hanged by Virginia when he was not a resident of Virginia, and to forgive Robert E. Lee for treason against the United States. Lee accepted a commission from the treasonous government in Richmond -before- his resignation was accepted in Washington.

He could easily have been hanged for treason under the law.

[wardaddy]

Well believe it or not I actually read the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation and a fair amount of Madison's writings I could find on Google. All I could find was some language about foreigners testimony in a treason case as it applied to Burr. I cannot find anything prohibiting a non resident from charges of treason. This concept certainly has precedence internationally....isn't the American girl in Peru being held for treason against Peru. I did find the 1890 Constitution of Mississippi having a provision for treason against the state itself.

On Brown....my instinct tells me that the Federal government wanted him stopped and were more than willing to let Virginia handle the wet work even though he was arrested by Federal troops. Brown did have some high profile support but I don't believe he had the support of your run of the mill abolitionist. Frederic Douglass for one pulled out of support for this raid. I believe Harriet Tubman missed the great adventure due to illness.