I cited Territory v. Nugent, a pre-statehood Louisiana case, and the assiduous cite-checkers reported that 1 Mart. (o.s.) 108 (La. Terr. 1810), was wrong; the correct citation is:
1 Mart. (o.s.) 108 (Orleans 1810).
The territory was apparently known at the time as the Territory of Orleans. Cool factoid, though the citation form ends up being confusing as a result; I added a parenthetical noting that this is "a pre-statehood case from what is now Louisiana." See also "Dakota" and "Indian Terr.," as well as "Territory South of the River Ohio (Southwest Territory)," which yielded reported cases but for which the Bluebook doesn't give a separate abbreviation.
UPDATE: As two commenters pointed out, only part of what is now Louisiana — but the part in which this case was decided — was known as the Territory of Orleans.
I wrote my doctoral thesis on the congressional politics of bounding and dividing territories.
The Orleans territory was actually somewhat smaller than the eventual state of Louisiana. It was created upon the division of the Lousiana purchase into two components, the Orleans territory and the "District" of Louisiana, which was the remainder of the purchase and under the authority of the Indiana territory for a year, until it became the old large Missouri territory.
One thing that most people don't realize is that the names of territories very rarely correlate geographically with the states that share the same names. For example, the Michigan territory went through five geographic changes, and included parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and the Dakotas prior to eventually becoming the familiar geography just before statehood.
This is most pertinent in the case of Nebraska. Many people get confused about the Kansas-Nebraska Act. They ask, "why were people so upset about the mere possibility of slavery in Nebraska?" thinking that Nebraska territory was the same geography as Nebraska the modern state. One answer, of course, is that Nebraska was above the Missouri Compromise line. But more important, the Nebraska territory ran from modern-day Nebraska all the way to Canandian border in present day Montana.
matt
There was a Territory of Louisiana at the same time there was a Territory of Orleans. Ironically enough, the Territory of Louisiana included all of the land that the United States acquired in the Louisiana Purchase, except for the portion that eventually became the State of Louisiana.
What was Ted doing in Orleans?
He was on tour. Edward Livingston and Jean LaFite (sp?) were big fans.
Searching for the perfect catfish, one would assume.
Then he would most likely have ended up here:
http://tinyurl.com/822gaa
perhaps I should buttress my next brief by finishing the argument section with, "cf., the library."
I'd like to read your thesis. I have access to ProQuest. Can you provide some search strings or other info?
Thanks,
RCM
Eugene, where did you cite this case?
My dissertation was titled “Building States: Institutions, Interests, and Actions in the Political Development of the American West, 1776-1912.”
My name is Matt Glassman.
I got my degree from Yale in 2007.
I also have a spin-off article from a chapter forthcoming, entitled "Why did the North reject Oregon?: Congress, Statehood, and Slavery, 1850-1859."
I'd be happy to send you a .pdf copy of either the diss or the spun article. Email me at MattGlassman312 "AT" gmail.com
cheers
Matt
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