Mick is certainly right: this is indeed an interesting case. I would
only add, "_very_ interesting" and "_very_ fine article." Kettner was
unraveling a legal case that all law professors teaching about slavery
(or Trusts and Estates) should know and use, as it shows a classic
confrontation of legal doctrines, brought into conflict by conflicting
policy goals, and the way that slavery created expedient new
categories. He shows how the court struggled to identify what it called
"a new species of property, subject to rules unknown to the law." To
do so, the court had to grapple with questions of who the remaindermen
were and how (or if) the the dreaded Rule Against Perpetuities applied.
Kettner, a scholar of deep insight and broad erudition, had the courage
and ability to engage these matters in a way that few of us would attempt.
David Thomas Konig
Professor of History and Law
Washington University in St. Louis
Campus Box 1120
St.Louis, MO 63130
314-935-9113
On 8/2/2012 4:09 PM, Michael Nicholls wrote:
> It is a fairly well known case and indeed interesting. There is a fine article discussing it by James H. Kettner, "Persons or Property? the Pleasants Slaves in the Virginia Courts, 1792-1799" in Launching the 'Extended Republic': the Federalist Era edited by Ron Hoffman and Peter Albert (UVA Press 1996) 136-55. It involves slaves who John and Jonathan Pleasants wanted freed, but who died before the 1782 law permitting manumissions had been adopted. It leads to a complicated system of freeing individuals at age 30 or beyond, depending on the age of the mother at their birth etc etc.
> Michael L. Nicholls
> Professor of History, Emeritus
> Dept. of History
> Utah State University
> Logan, UT 84322-0710
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
> On Aug 1, 2012, at 7:44 AM, John Philip Adams wrote:
>
>> This sounds like a really great case. FREEING of slaves by a Va. Court. What
>> was the cause of action to initiate this case.
>> Thanks
>> JP Adams
>> Texas
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Michael Nicholls
>> Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 2:14 PM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Pleasants v. Logan
>>
>> The case of Pleasants v. Logan in the High Court of Chancery at the end of
>> the 18th century that forced the heirs of John and Jonathan Pleasants to
>> free slaves they had inherited is well known. Can any one direct me to any
>> work that has been done on the individuals who were freed as a result of
>> that case. Thank you--Mick Nicholls
>>
>> Michael L. Nicholls
>> Professor of History, Emeritus
>> Dept. of History
>> Utah State University
>> Logan, UT 84322-0710
>>
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>>
>>
>> ______________________________________
>> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
>> http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
>>
>> ______________________________________
>> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
>> http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
>
> ______________________________________
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
> http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
______________________________________
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
|
