MAKING RACE IN THE COURTROOM
Making Race in the Courtroom
The Legal Construction of Three Races in Early New Orleans
Kenneth R. Aslakson
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
© 2014 by New York University
All rights reserved
References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing.
Neither the author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Aslakson, Kenneth R., author.
Making race in the courtroom : the legal construction of three races in early New Orleans / Kenneth R. Aslakson.
pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8147-2431-6 (hardback)
1. Free African Americans—Legal status, laws, etc.—Louisiana—History—19th century. 2. Louisiana—History—1803-1865. 3. Louisiana Purchase—Social aspects. I. Title.
KFL411.5.A34A83 2014
342.763’350873—dc23 2014015123
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For my parents
CONTENTS
3. “We Shall Serve with Fidelity and Zeal”
4. Outside the Bonds of Matrimony
5. Owning So as Not to Be Owned
6. “When the Question Is Slavery or Freedom”
Epilogue: From Adele to Plessy
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It is my great pleasure to be able to formally recognize and thank the many people who have not only helped me to write this book but also made possible my dream life as an academic.
First and foremost I would like to thank my family, without whose support and encouragement I would never have been able to complete this project. My mother, a high school English teacher, has read many versions of the manuscript over the years, correcting my grammar and helping me to clarify my prose. I consulted with her over and over again regarding how to best express the ideas and arguments of this book. From her influence, more than anyone else’s, came my desire to be an educator and a student. My father was less involved in the writing of the manuscript but no less important to its completion. He, more than anybody, provided me the opportunity to pursue the life of the mind. My two sisters, Elizabeth Aslakson Mathis and Carla Aslakson-Yarnal, have supported, challenged, and inspired me, in different ways and at different times, throughout my life. Beth, my older sister, has a very logical mind and has helped me to grapple with some of the more difficult theoretical concepts challenging me. Carla, two years younger than I, serves as a model of courage and virtue by living according to the selfless principles she espouses.
A great many friends and mentors have also made it possible for me to complete this project. These include influential teachers such as Carolyn Huff, Diana Jernigan, Weldon Crowley, Leonard Giesecke, Ken Roberts, Winston Davis, David Sokolow, Michael Tiger, and David Silver. I am especially grateful to Dr. Jan Dawson, my favorite professor at Southwestern University. She is the reason I pursued a PhD in history. These friends also include former classmates Pete Kennedy, Sarah Rushing, Doug Wipff, Russell Kirksey, Kerry Dunn, Scott Pass, Paul Niemeyer, and Craig Donahue; mentors such as E. Eldridge Goins Jr., John Rosenberg, Jim Morris, Hance Burrow; and those who have encouraged me and shared parts of their lives with me while I struggled through this arduous process—the Thorne family, Lawrence, Reesa, and Logan, and the Gorsuch family, Rob, Gwynn, and Claire. And, of course, thank you Julia Hormes for being there at the book’s completion.
Three long-time friends in particular, whom I respect and admire a great deal, deserve further mention. Rob Gorsuch has been my close friend for more than forty-five years, almost all of our lives. He also provided me a quiet space to think and write during critical times as the manuscript was coming together. Chris Albi has been a great friend since early on in graduate school when I discovered that he is also a former lawyer. Our common interest in the ways that legal institutions interact with the historical process allows us to justify a round of golf as an exercise of the mind. When I met Lawrence Thorne in Mrs. Gibson’s class almost forty years ago, we immediately bonded and have been best friends ever since. Lawrence keeps me both grounded and excited about life’s possibilities at the same time. I have a great deal of respect for these great friends and seek the same from them.
I would also like to thank another friend, the city of New Orleans, for being such an interesting place to study and having so many fascinating stories to tell. Many knowledgeable and helpful archivists, librarians, and curators make the telling of the history of New Orleans possible. The people at the Historic New Orleans Collection, the New Orleans Notarial Archives, the Louisiana Supreme Court, and the various libraries of Tulane University and the University of Texas have all been very helpful in my research efforts. I owe the most gratitude to the people at the New Orleans Public Library, especially Irene Wainwright, Wayne Everard, and Greg Osborn. With few financial resources, the people of the NOPL have maintained one of the richest collections of archives on the history of New Orleans that any scholar could find. Their work and assistance have been invaluable to me.
Thanks to the seemingly endless inspiration the city provides and the work of these curators, there is plenty to share among the large and growing cadre of historians of New Orleans. These scholars include, but are not limited to, Hans Baade, Caryn Cosse Bell, Warren Billings, Patricia Brady, Carl Brasseaux, Emily Clark,