Slavery Jurisprudence on the Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1828-1858: William Gaston and Thomas Ruffin

Campbell Law Review Volume 33 Issue 2 North Carolina 2010 Article 3 January 2010 Slavery Jurisprudence on the Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1828-1858: William Gaston and Thomas Ruffin Timothy C. Meyer Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.campbell.edu/clr Part of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Constitutional Law Commons, and the Judges Commons Recommended Citation Timothy C. Meyer, Slavery Jurisprudence on the Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1828-1858: William Gaston and Thomas Ruffin, 33 Campbell L. Rev. 313 (2010). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarly Repository @ Campbell University School of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Campbell Law Review by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Repository @ Campbell University School of Law. Meyer: Slavery Jurisprudence on the Supreme Court of North Carolina, 182 Slavery Jurisprudence on the Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1828-1858: William Gaston and Thomas Ruffin TIMOTHY C. MEYER INTRODUCTION In the years preceding the Civil War, two North Carolina Supreme Court Justices, Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin and Associate Justice William Gaston, offered starkly different legal opinions on issues relating to slavery. Despite broad similarities in their backgrounds and their agreement on many other legal and judicial issues, Ruffin and Gaston approached slavery from sharply contrasting perspectives. Both men used their positions on the bench to influence the treatment and legal status of slaves. While Ruffin vigorously defended the peculiar institution and took the concept of chattel to a logical extreme, Gaston denounced many of its dehumanizing elements. In fact, Gaston's opinions frequently attempted to ameliorate conditions for slaves. The contrast is especially noteworthy given that Ruffin and Gaston served on the same court, at the same time, with very similar backgrounds, including the fact that both were slaveholders. This Article analyzes their opinions on slavery and also partially seeks to explain the differences between the two men through their backgrounds in the areas of legislative service, religious affiliation and judicial aims. 1. THE PUBLIC LIVES OF RUFFIN AND GASTON Thomas Ruffin was born in 1787 and raised in Essex County, Virginia in an Episcopalian family.' Prior to enrolling at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton), Ruffin moved to Warrenton, North Carolina.' After graduating and passing the bar, Ruffin eventually settled in Hillsboro, North Carolina.' He was a large slaveholder, 1. 16 DICTIONARY 2. Id. 3. Id. OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY 216 (1935). 313 Published by Scholarly Repository @ Campbell University School of Law, 2010 1 Campbell Law Review, Vol. 33, Iss. 2 [2010], Art. 3 314 CAMPBELL LAW REVIEW [Vol. 33:313 owning more than 100 slaves on two plantations.' Ruffin had great influence among the plantation community and even served as president of the state agricultural society from 1854 to 1860.5 Ruffin was also engaged in many commercial pursuits. He was part of "an elite cadre of Piedmont lawyers who were intent on modernizing the state. These attorneys . . . [bridged] the economic and cultural gap between agrarian and commercial interests."6 Ruffin was an extremely active Jeffersonian-Republican.' As a member of North Carolina's House of Commons, he eventually rose to become speaker in 1816.8 He later served as an elector for William Crawford in the 1824 Presidential election.' His role as an elector was fundamentally local and it was not until 1861 that Ruffin was engaged on the national scene. Ruffin attended the Washington Peace Conference in 1861 and also participated in the Confederacy as a commissioner of North Carolina's sinking fund, which was a fund used to pay off the state's debt.10 But it was during his tenure on the State's Supreme Court from 1829 until his retirement in 1852 (and again briefly in 1858 when he was called back into service) that Ruffin unquestionably had his greatest and longest lasting impact." William Gaston was born in 1778 and raised in New Bern, North Carolina by a devoutly Catholic mother, as his father died when he was just two years old.12 Like Ruffin, Gaston also graduated from the College of New Jersey, although he initially enrolled at Georgetown as its first student." After graduating, Gaston returned to North Carolina where he studied law and owned a plantation." At his death, Gaston owned more than 200 slaves." 4. 19 THOMAS D. MORRIS, AMERICAN NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY 45 (1999). 5. Id. 6. TIMOTHY S. HUEBNER, SECTIONAL DISTINCTIVENESS, THE SOUTHERN JUDICIAL TRADITION: STATE JUDGES AND 1790-1890 132 (1999). 7. Id. 8. 16 DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, supra note 1. 9. Id. 10. MORRIS, supra note 4. 11. 16 DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, supra note 1. 12. 6 DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY 180 (1931). 13. 3 HENRY G. CONNOR, GREAT AMERICAN LAWYERS: WILLIAM GASTON 43 (1908). 14. Id. at 44. 15. 8 TIMOTHY S. HUEBNER, AMERICAN NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY 783 (1999). http://scholarship.law.campbell.edu/clr/vol33/iss2/3 2 Meyer: Slavery Jurisprudence on the Supreme Court of North Carolina, 182 2011] SLAVERY JURISPRUDENCE 315 Gaston was also very involved in Federalist and, later, Whig politics-both locally and nationally.16 Gaston served four terms in the state senate and seven in the house of commons, eventually rising to become speaker of the house, as had Ruffin." Unlike Ruffin, however, Gaston had national political experience early on in his career. For example, he served two terms in the United States House of Representatives, from 1813 to 1817.18 He was also offered the chance to represent North Carolina in the United States Senate in 1840 and to serve as William Henry Harrison's attorney general in 1841.1' Gaston, however, refused both offers. Although he died before the secession crisis of 1860-1861, Gaston had-at a much earlier time-been firmly committed to the preservation of the Union. 20 Even though Gaston's impact while serving in North Carolina politics was likely broader than Ruffin's, Gaston's greatest achievements, like Ruffin's, came during his years on the state's highest court from 1833 to 1844. II. A SHARED COMMITMENT TO AN INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY In 1818, North Carolina was one of two states without a supreme court-that is, an appellate court separate from a law term of the trial court. The legislative debate about whether to create a "supreme court" in North Carolina was extremely contentious. Even after the pro-court advocates won the day in 1818, the North Carolina Supreme Court went through a period of roughly fifteen years where its long-term survival as an independent entity was in serious doubt, with anti-court forces These opponents, who urged continuing to press their case." 16. 3 CONNOR, supra note 13, at 44. 17. Id. at 46. 18. Id. 19. 6 DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, supra note 12, at 181. 20. The Honorable William Gaston (...truncated)