MIXED JURISDICTIONS COMPARED: PRIVATE LAW IN LOUISIANA AND SCOTLAND. Ed by Vernon Valentine Palmer and Elspeth Christie Reid Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh Studies in Law vol 6, 2009. xxxvii + 424 pp. ISBN 9780748638864. £60.

Document Cited authorities (2) Cited in Related
AuthorRoss Gilbert Anderson
DOI10.3366/elr.2012.0090
Published date01 January 2012
Date01 January 2012
Pages129-130

The relationship between Scotland and Louisiana may not be obvious. But the links are deep. They immediately focus on Law – not the system, but the person: John Law of Lauriston, a character with whose biography (which James Buchan has written) the course of history itself changes course. Louisiana's break with France can be traced to the actions of this remarkable Scotsman when, in his capacity as surintendant des finances of France, he stoked fevered speculation in the Compagnie d'Occident (merged in 1719 with the Compagnie des Indes Orientales et de la Chine into the Compagnie perpétuelle des Indes) which had obtained from Louis XIV, in 1717, the exclusive 25 year concession to Louisiana. One might have thought that the fever that gripped Parisian investors might have stalled when Law, struggling to find settlers, resorted to rounding up from the streets of Paris for transportation to Louisiana vagrants, abandoned children, prostitutes, and – for good measure – the occasional unsuspecting respectable citizen. As it happens, the public did notice, but by then it was too late. The unsustainable bubble burst, the country was ruined and Law was forced to slip out of Paris incognito, and financial history, dressed as a woman. But thus did Louisiana acquire some of its original European settlers.

...

Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI

Get Started for Free

Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant

  • Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database

  • Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength

  • Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities

  • Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

vLex

Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant

  • Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database

  • Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength

  • Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities

  • Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

vLex

Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant

  • Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database

  • Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength

  • Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities

  • Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

vLex

Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant

  • Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database

  • Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength

  • Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities

  • Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

vLex

Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant

  • Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database

  • Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength

  • Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities

  • Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

vLex

Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant

  • Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database

  • Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength

  • Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities

  • Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

vLex

Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant

  • Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database

  • Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength

  • Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities

  • Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

vLex