VA-Hist:

  Another good post.

Harold S. Forsythe
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date sent:              Thu, 01 Nov 2001 13:32:01 -0500 (EST)
From:                   Ian Mylchreest <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:                [H-Law] Private Law under late 18th century constitutional regimes
        (Curtis)
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Send reply to:          H-Net and ASLH Legal History Discussion list <[log in to unmask]>

From:    [log in to unmask] (Christopher M. Curtis)

In Virginia, the American Revolution transformed the fundamental
nature of
property rights, particularly in regard to real property. In May 1779,
Virginian legislators abolished the vestiges of feudal tenures
(quitrents,
mining claims, etc.) and made all real property allodial, or absolute.
Over the next few legislative sessions Virginians continued to re-
define
their property rights in this allodial fashion. The abolition of
primogeniture, entail in lands, and the re-definition of the freehold all
contributed to the sanctification of absolute property rights. The
ideological foundation for these changes was expressed in
Jefferson's
"Summary View" and a concise legal history can be found in St.
George
Tucker's appendix on colonial land tenures in his edited Blackstone.
Similar legal reforms affected some personal property, especially
slaves,
with the abolition of entail in slaves and the manumission act 1782
solidifying the absolute rights of the slave owner. Dower rights, however,
did not seem to be on the table until the 1830s. The ratification of the
Federal Constitution hardly affected these private law reforms but
elements of them were re-examined during the state Constitutional
Conventions in 1829-30 and 1850-51.

Chris Curtis
Emory University
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