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Fulton V. Lewis: The Case Of An Immigrant Slave's Petition For Freedom During The War Of 1812, Silvio Morales

Student Articles and Papers

In 1815 the Maryland Court of Appeals did something that by the early 1800’s had become uncommon. The court granted a slave his freedom in the case of Fulton v. Lewis, 3H. & J. 564 (1815) The slave was John Lewis, a native of the island of Saint Domingo, present-day Haiti, who was imported into Maryland after the Maryland General Assembly enacted a law prohibiting the importation of slaves into Maryland.

To understand why Lewis was granted his freedom this essay explores the case by placing it in its historical context, and by reviewing certain Maryland laws regarding slavery …

Marine Insurance And Mercantile Enterprise Through The Lens Of The Baltimore Insurance Company V. Mcfadon 4 H.& J. 31 (1815), Catherine Gonzalez

Legal History Publications

This essay contextualizes the case of The Baltimore Insurance Company v. McFadon, tracing the dispute from its origin to its disposition in the Maryland Court of Appeals in 1815. The case, which centered on whether mutual claims could be set-off against each other in a suit involving an open insurance policy, is illuminating as to the evolution of marine insurance, trade between Baltimore and the West Indies in the late eighteenth century, and the impact of the Napoleonic Wars on American mercantile enterprise. By examining the case through the lens of this historical study, it becomes apparent that the …