Law Commons^™

Perpetuities And The Genius Of A Free State, Joshua C. Tate

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

The recent rise of perpetual trusts has brought new attention to previously obscure state constitutional prohibitions of perpetuities. This symposium commentary examines the historical origins of the first such prohibition, Clause 23 of the 1776 North Carolina Constitution and Declaration of Rights, which provided that “perpetuities and monopolies are contrary to the genius of a free State, and ought not to be allowed.” Although many good reasons can be offered for the provision, it is curiously absent from the constitutions of the twelve other original states. Why did this provision emerge only in North Carolina, and not in Virginia, Massachusetts, …