John Hood’s ancestral studies have led him to the interesting 18th-century Virginia court case Pleasants v. Pleasants, in which a man sought to force his siblings to follow the dictates of their father’s will and allow slaves to be freed.
Hood discussed the case, “emancipation litigation” in his words, during a presentation today to the John Locke Foundation’s Shaftesbury Society. In the video clip below, Hood discusses the surge of interest in freeing slaves in the immediate aftermath of the American Revolution.
2:25 p.m. update: Click play below to watch the full 57:19 event.
You’ll find other John Locke Foundation video presentations here.
