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During the Dred Scott v. Sandford case, there was another case going on. This case was the Lemmon v. New York case.
Background: Jonathon Lemmon and his wife Juliet, who lived in Virginia at the time, wanted to emigrate into Texas. When they finally decided to leave, they deiced to take a convenient method of delivering their slaves by bringing them to New York City and then sending them to their destination by a vessel. The slaves that were delivered were Emiline (age 23); Nancy (age 20); Lewis, brother of Nancy (age 16), Edward, brother of Emiline (age 13), Lewis and Edward, sons of Nancy (age 7); Ann, daughter of Nancy (age 5); and Amanda, daughter of Emiline (age 2). Guardian Angel: While the Lemmons waited for their ship to New York City, they kept them at a boarding house No. 3 Carlisle Street. An African American resident of New York, Louis Napoleon, found them there. He then proceeded to place a petition to Justice Elijah Paine Jr. of the Superior Court of New York City. The petition claimed that a 1817 New York law stated: No person held as a slave shall be imported, introduced, or brought into this State on any pretense whatever. Every such person shall be free. This meant that the slaves should be emancipated by New York Law. Lemmon’s argument: Lemmon argued that they were just transporting their slaves from Virginia to Texas, citing the Supreme Court’s ruling in Gibbons vv. that states had no power to regulate interstate commerce, as that power was granted to the federal government. They also argued that the U.S. Constitution granted limited powers to the federal government, and those powers not granted were reserved for the states. New York argued back that the requirement excluded any requirement for states to return non-fugitive slaves by the principle expressio unius exclusio alterius. Decision: On November 13, 1852, Justice Paine described that the necessity did not require the Lemmons to travel to Texas via New York. So, according to the New York law, the slaves were freed. Paine relied on the English precedent set in Somersett v. Stewart that declares that only positive law could uphold slavery. Since England had no laws upholding slavery, slaves entering English territory became free. The Court of Appeals affirmed by a vote of 5-3 in March 1860, holding that the slaves were free. The Lemmons did try to appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, but the American Civil War began, making their efforts useless. The Decision made by the Court was most definitely the best choice for our country as the states had the law and should free the slaves. Lemmon made the wrong choice, which inn the end benefited those who had no say. |