G.W. Blatterman’s notes from John A.G. Davis’ 1838-1839 senior law class. Here, Professor John A.G. Davis discusses the recognition of slavery in Virginia state law despite William Blackstone’s adamant rejection of its legality in his Commentaries on the Laws of England. Davis admitted that Blackstone was right: slavery could not be reconciled with natural law. But he maintained that the integration of emancipated Black individuals into southern society would be “dangerous.” The page ends with a reference to Thomas Jefferson’s “wolf by the ear” analogy, in which Jefferson implied an emancipated Black population would pose an equal if not greater danger than the institution of slavery to southern society.
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