Abstract:
In this lecture, I want to reflect on aspects of the first book of the first Louisiana Civil Code, which is of course entitled The Digest of the Civil Laws Now in Force in the Territory of Orleans, With Alterations and Amendments Adapted to its Present System of Government. It was enacted by the Territorial Legislature and then promulgated by the Governor in 1808, after printing in New Orleans by Bradford and Anderson. Two remarkable and learned men had drafted it between 1806 and 1808. The first was Louis Moreau Lislet, a refugee lawyer from St. Domingue, who had studied law in Paris, becoming an “avocat au Parlement.” The second was James Brown, educated at Liberty Hall (later Washington and Lee University) and the College of William and Mary, who had trained as a lawyer in Kentucky. Both men had careers dependent on patronage, but Brown’s was the more distinguished, reflecting his better political, social, and family connections. Both men were skilled in French, English, and Spanish.
