Owings v. Speed
| Citation | 18 U.S. 420,5 Wheat. 420,5 L.Ed. 124 |
| Parties | OWINGS v. SPEED et al |
| Decision Date | 16 March 1820 |
| Court | United States Supreme Court |
This was an ejectment brought by the plaintiff in the Circuit Court of the United States, for the District of Kentucky, to recover a lot of ground lying in Bardstown. This town was laid off in 1780, on a tract of land consisting of 1000 acres, for which, in 1785, a patent was issued by the Commonwealth of Virginia to Bard and Owings. In 1788, the legislature of Virginia passed an act, vesting 100 acres, part of this tract, in trustees, to be laid off in lots, some of them to be given to settlers, and others to be sold for the benefit of the proprietors. The cause depends, mainly, on the validity of this act. It is contended to be a violation of that part of the Constitution of the United States, which forbids a State to pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts.
Much reason is furnished by the record for presuming the consent of the proprietors to this law; but the Circuit Court has decided the question independently of this consent, and that decision is now to be reviewed.
Before we determine on the construction of the Constitution in relation to a question of this description, it is necessary to inquire whether the provisions of that instrument apply to any acts of the State legislatures which were of the date with that which it is now proposed to consider.
This act was passed in the session of 1788. Did the Constitution of the United States then operate upon it?
In September, 1787, after completing the great work in which they had been engaged, the Convention resolved that the Constitution should be laid before the Congress of the United States, to be submitted by that body to Conventions of the several States, to be convened by their respective legislatures and expressed the opinion, that as soon as it should be ratified by the Conventions of nine States, Congress should fix a day on which electors should be appointed by the States, a day on which the electors should assemble to vote for President and Vice President, 'and the time and place for commencing proceedings under this Constitution.'
The Conventions of nine States having adopted the Constitution, Congress, in September or October, 1788, passed a resolution in conformity with the opinions expressed by the Convention, and appointed the first Wednesday in March of the ensuing year as the day, and the then seat of Congre...
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Oneida Indian Nation of NY v. State of NY
...the provisions of the Constitution applied to acts of state legislatures in 1788. Writing for the Court in Owings v. Speed, 18 U.S. (5 Wheat.) 420, 422, 5 L.Ed. 124 (1820), Chief Justice Marshall concluded the new government did not commence, until the old government expired. It is apparent......
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Chesapeake & O. Ry. Co v. Deepwater Ry. Co
...that the assessment should be admissible evidence. The minutes of the corporation were also admitted, on the authority of Owings v. Speed, 5 Wheat. 420, 5 L. Ed. 124, and Wood v. Bank, 9 Cow. 194. The defendant seems to have been a stranger to the corporation, but the matters to prove which......
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Folk v. Atty. Gen. of Commonwealth of Pa.
...of March, after the required number of states ratified it, when the first session of Congress took place. See Owings v. Speed, 5 Wheat. 420, 18 U.S. 420, 5 L.Ed. 124 (1820). ...
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Bonnichsen v. U.S.
...the State of Hawaii." (Emphasis added). The "United States" is a political entity that dates back to 1789. Owings v. Speed, 18 U.S. (5 Wheat.) 420, 423, 5 L.Ed. 124 (1820). This term supports that Congress's use of the present tense ("that is indigenous") referred to tribes, peoples, and cu......
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Table of Cases
...2004), 1580 Owens v. Okure, 488 U.S. 235, 109 S.Ct. 573, 102 L.Ed.2d 594 (1989), 905 Page 1699 Owings v. Speed, 18 U.S. (5 Wheat.) 420, 5 L.Ed. 124 (1820), Oyama v. California, 332 U.S. 633, 68 S.Ct. 269, 92 L.Ed. 249 (1948), 1156 P Pacific Mutual Life Ins. Co. v. Haslip, 499 U.S. 1, 111 S.......