Legal
Legal
An event that involves a legal filing or proceeding related to an enslaved person
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Legal: Agreement
An event in which two parties come to an agreement with respect to an enslaved person that is articulated in an official document
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Legal: Civil action
A legal dispute involving an enslaved person based on a non-criminal issue
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Legal: Criminal action
A legal dispute involving an enslaved person that relates to a criminal statute
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Legal: Dowry
A legal filing involving an enslaved person related to the transfer of property on the occasion of a marriage
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Legal: Freedom petition
A legal petition from an enslaved person claiming their freedom rights
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Legal: Manumission registration
A legal filing that registers the freeing of an enslaved person
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Legal: Probate
A legal filing that provides an accounting of a person’s estate after their death
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Legal: Removal registration
A legal filing that registers the removal of an enslaved person from their home state to another state
Usage: Use the Destination property to record the proposed destination for the enslaved person. This event type is particular to states that required enslavers to obtain official authorization for the removal of an enslaved person out of the state. For example, in New Jersey, an enslaver who sought to permanently relocate to another state (or who wanted to sell an enslaved person to a buyer in another state) was legally required to bring the enslaved person in front of two judges for examination. The law stipulated that the enslaved person had to give their consent (and in the case of a minor, parental consent was required) before the judges could issue a removal certificate authorizing the person’s relocation beyond state borders. Note that scholars have documented abuses of the removal registration system by legal officials who participated in the interstate slave trade. Thus, a removal registration event type is meant to document that the enslaver obtained official authorization to take the enslaved person out of the state, but it does not necessarily mean that the enslaved person freely consented to relocation.
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Legal: Tax filing
A legal filing that provides an accounting of property for the purposes of taxation or dispute about taxation
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Legal: Will
A legal filing outlining a person’s wishes for the disposition of their property upon their death
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