Polly v. Lasselle
Encyclopedia
State supreme court
In the United States, the state supreme court is the highest state court in the state court system ....
case in the US state of Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
where abolitionists attempted to free a slave from her master. The case resulted in the court ordering all slaves held within Indiana to be freed.
Background
SlaverySlavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
had been a legal institution in the region of Indiana when it was controlled by France
Kingdom of France
The Kingdom of France was one of the most powerful states to exist in Europe during the second millennium.It originated from the Western portion of the Frankish empire, and consolidated significant power and influence over the next thousand years. Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, developed a...
and Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
, and remained legal until 1787 when the Northwest Territory
Northwest Territory
The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio...
was organized by the United States of America. The Northwest Ordinance
Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance was an act of the Congress of the Confederation of the United States, passed July 13, 1787...
prohibited further expansion of slavery in the region, but allowed for the continuation of existing slave arrangements.
When the Indiana territory was established in 1800 many slaveholders immigrated to the territory bringing their slaves with them. The territory passed legislation that allowed for the slaves to be indentured within the territory. This law allowed slaveholders to continue in their ownership of slaves that were purchased outside of the state, even if the slaves came to reside in Indiana.
When Indiana was granted statehood in 1816 the constitution
Constitution of Indiana
There have been two Constitutions of the State of Indiana. The first constitution was created when the Territory of Indiana sent forty-three delegates to a constitutional convention on June 10, 1816 to establish a constitution for the proposed State of Indiana after the United States Congress had...
instituted a ban on slavery. This ban brought the previous laws that had permitted slavery into conflict, and the issues of whether preexisting slave arrangements were still legal was brought before the courts on several occasions. Each time the circuit courts had denied or approved the freedom of the slaves on an individual basis.
Case
In 1819 two abolitionists, John Osborn and Amory Kinney, sought the aid of a VincennesVincennes, Indiana
Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 18,701 at the 2000 census...
law office to test the legality of slave arrangements made prior to 1816. The two were Canadians
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
who had immigrated to Indiana after the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. They believed that the constitutional ban on slavery extended to all slaves, including those held before 1816. The lawyers at the office, Colonel George McDonald and Moses Tabbs, also members of the anti-slavery party, began to prepare a test case to bring before the courts.
To ensure their case would have the widest reaching effects, they chose to attempt to free a slave named Polly who belonged to Hyacinthe Lassalle of Vincennes. The Lassalles were among the oldest family of immigrants in the state and had been in the region since France
Kingdom of France
The Kingdom of France was one of the most powerful states to exist in Europe during the second millennium.It originated from the Western portion of the Frankish empire, and consolidated significant power and influence over the next thousand years. Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, developed a...
had owned it in the 18th century. Lassalle's father was a French trader who settled near Fort Wayne around 1765 where he married a Miami
Miami tribe
The Miami are a Native American nation originally found in what is now Indiana, southwest Michigan, and western Ohio. The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma is the only federally recognized tribe of Miami Indians in the United States...
woman, and John was born to the couple in 1777. Polly had been purchased before the Northwest Territory had been established, and if she could be freed then a precedent would be set whereby all other slaves in the state could also be set free. The defense of Lassalle was performed by Judge Jacob Call
Jacob Call
Jacob Call was a U.S. Representative from Indiana.Born in Kentucky, Call was graduated from an academy in Kentucky.He studied law.He was admitted to the bar and practiced in Vincennes and Princeton, Indiana....
, a future Congressman.
The case was first submitted to the circuit court in Vincennes where it was ruled that Polly should remain a slave. The court cited the fact that Polly was owned before the Northwest Ordinance was passed, and the wording of the Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
Deed of Cession as proof, claiming that Lassalle's ownership of Polly was protected by federal law.
In June 1820 the case was appealed to the Supreme Court of Indiana
Supreme Court of Indiana
The Supreme Court of Indiana is the state supreme court of Indiana. The court was established by Article Seven of the Indiana Constitution and is the highest judicial authority within Indiana...
. Chief Justice Isaac Blackford
Isaac Blackford
Isaac Newton Blackford was the second Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, the court's longest serving Justice, and among the longest serving jurists in the history of the United States. He wrote an eight volume work entitled Blackford's Reports recording all the early decisions of the court...
was the son-in-law of McDonald, one of the plaintiff
Plaintiff
A plaintiff , also known as a claimant or complainant, is the term used in some jurisdictions for the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court...
's lawyers. The plaintiff's lawyers argued that the constitution superseded all other laws, including one written prior to the constitution's adoption, and that the Northwest Ordinance ceased to apply to Indiana after statehood. The defense argued that the Northwest Ordinance, a federal law, superseded the state constitution and that it could have been repealed only by the federal government but was not repealed, it was still in effect regardless of Indiana's status in the Union. The court decided in favor of Polly and in the July decision court stated that
...the framers of our constitution intended a total and entire prohibition of slavery in this state. ...it follows, as an irresistible conclusion, that, under our present form of government, that slavery can have no exisitance in the State of Indiana, and, of course, that the claim of the said Lasselle cannot be supported.
Decision
The decision was a major victory for the abolitionists in the state who had organized to ban slavery only seventeen years earlier. The result was that not just Polly but also all other slaves, including those held prior to Indiana statehood, were freed. There was some anger among the slaveholding community and violence was threatened against Osborn and Kinney, but no action was taken against them. The case also led to the impeachment of the Clark CountyClark County, Indiana
Clark County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana, located directly across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. At the 2010 Census, the population was 110,232. The county seat is Jeffersonville. Clarksville is also a major city in the county...
Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
for aiding slaveholders who refused to free their slaves. Many slaveholders, not wanting to lose their valuable slaves, left the state before their slaves could be taken from them.
The 1820 US census revealed that there were 190 slaves in Indiana and 1,200 free blacks, many of whom had been freed by the decision. The number of slaves dropped off dramatically and there were only three slaves in the state in both the 1830 and 1840 censuses.
External links
- Bound for Freedom--articles on the case from the Indiana Court System, includes full text opinion