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| **THIRTY HOGSHEADS OF SUGAR v. BOYLE
13 U.S. 191 (1815) 9 Cranch 191
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Appellant claimant, a Danish citizen, sought review of the sentence of the Circuit Court for the District of Maryland, condemning his sugar, which was grown on his plantation in Santa Cruz, and put on board a vessel for shipment to England after the capture of that island by the British. The sugar was captured after the declaration of war by the United States against Great Britain, and libeled as British property by appellee privateers.
OVERVIEW: The Santa Cruz inhabitants retained their property and were permitted to ship their produce, but only to Great Britain. The sugar was on board a British ship captured by the privateers and brought to the United States, where the vessel and cargo were libeled as enemy property. The claimant acquired the plantation while Santa Cruz was a Danish colony, and he withdrew from it after its capture. Affirming the decision, the Court explained that the claimant was incorporated, so far as respected his plantation in Santa Cruz, with the permanent interests of Santa Cruz, which was at that time, British. Although as a Dane, the claimant was at war with Great Britain, and an enemy; yet, the Court said, as a plantation owner in Santa Cruz, he was no enemy, and could have shipped his produce to Great Britain in perfect safety. The Court added that personal property may have followed the person anywhere, but land was fixed. Wherever the owner may have resided, the Court concluded that land was hostile or friendly according to the condition of the country in which it was placed. The claimant, with regard to his land, while he remained unchanged, was subject to the same disabilities as the land.
OUTCOME: The Court affirmed the decision condemning, as enemy property, the sugar belonging to the claimant, a Danish owner of a plantation on an island that had been captured by the British.
War of 1812; Privateer capture of British cargo
Opinion: Marhshall, C.J. ,Todd absent
Counsel: Harper for Danish owner; Pinkney for Privateer |
