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http://sitemaker.umich.edu/law.slave...elaide-pdf.pdf

She refuses to deliver herself up as a slave of your Petitioner

Art 15 ... A Digest of the Civil Laws Now in Force in the Territory of Orleans ... Free men are those who have preserved their natural liberty, which consists in a right to do whatever one pleases, except insofar as one is restrained by law Above is an interesting account of a Santo Domingo woman who succeeded in freeing herself from slavery and her continuing struggle to remain free later in New Orleans. She was free for a while in Cuba but forced out with the French when Napoleon went to war with Spain. It is an interesting account worth reading.

Here is a copy of the laws in force in the Territory of Orleans around 1808.
http://books.google.com/books?id=HW1...ufruct&f=false