3 page essay on Overseers of South Brunswick v. Overseers of East Windsor
3 page essay on Overseers of South Brunswick v. Overseers of East Windsor
SEE ATTACHMENT FOR CASE!
CASE ASSIGNMENT
You are to write a 3 page essay on Overseers of South Brunswick v. Overseers of
East Windsor
Ct.
You should address the following issues in your essay
- Who is suing whom for what?
- What is the procedural status of the case?
- Who is John Mount and what role does he play in the case?If he is not party, is there any significance to his absence?
- What role does the slave Jack play in the case?Is he a party, if not why not?
- Was Jack formally manumitted (freed)? Did that make any difference to Jack?
- How did Jack support himself after John Mount left for
New York
- What is the result of the case?
- Finally, what does this case tell us about the lives and treatment of former slaves in New Jersey prior to the Civil War?
Who are the parties to the case?
What does the plaintiff want?
Why does plaintiff think it is right?
Why does defendant think it is right?
What court is making the decision?
Is this a trial court decision or an appeal.If an appeal, what was the lower court’s decision?
Who wins/, who loses?
What are the factual and legal reasons given by the court?
You are of course free to raise and address other issues.
Let me give you some background to help you understand the case.
In early nineteenth century New Jersey, care of the poor was the responsibility of the individual townships, rather than the state or the counties. Usually impoverished people would live with their families.If they had no family or were strangers in the community, the township would arrange for a poor person to live with a local family and the township would pay for the room and board of the poor person from local taxes.The Overseers of the Poor were the local officials responsible for placing the poor people with a local family and paying for room and board.Most townships had at least two Overseers of the Poor although some had only one.Like all good government officials, the Overseers of the Poor wanted to avoid excess spending, so they often engaged in litigation to have somebody else, or some other township pay for the care of the poor.
Manumission means the freeing of an enslaved person. In New Jersey, as of the time of this case, a master could free a slave either by providing for freedom in the master’s will or by freeing the slave by giving the slave a legal document called a deed of manumission.The deed had to be signed by the master, and witnessed by two Overseers of the Poor and two Justices of the Peace.The deed was then filed with the county clerk just as one would file a deed for real property.Sometimes, masters would free slaves without going through the expense and formality of issuing a deed.However, unless all of the requirements of the manumission statute were followed, the slave was not legally free.
As to the court referred to in case, the lowest level of court was the Justice of the Peace Court.Justices of the Peace were appointed by the state Assembly to serve in particular counties.The Justices of the Peace handled minor criminal and civil matters without a jury.
Each county had a Court of Quarter Sessions (so called because the court was supposed to meet quarterly) which heard significant criminal matters and also heard appeals from the Justice of the Peace Courts.The Supreme Court of Judicature was, at the time of this decision, the court of last resort in the New Jersey court system.
