Nathan Dane
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Nathan Dane (December 29, 1752 – February 15, 1835) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
in the Continental Congress from 1785 through 1788. Dane helped formulate the
Northwest Ordinance The Northwest Ordinance (formally An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio and also known as the Ordinance of 1787), enacted July 13, 1787, was an organic act of the Congress of the Co ...
while in Congress, and introduced an amendment to the ordinance prohibiting slavery in the
Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...
. During his career, he served in both the
Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...
and the Massachusetts Senate. He also wrote a multi-volume treatise that covered the entire subject of American law, which enabled him to help fund the development of
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
.


Early life and education

Dane was born at
Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...
in
Essex County, Massachusetts Essex County is a County (United States), county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the total population was 809,829, making it the third-most populous county in the stat ...
. His father Daniel Dane was a farmer, and his mother's name was Abigail. Ancestor John Dane Sr. had immigrated to Massachusetts from
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
(not
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
) in 1636. Dane worked on the family farm in Ipswich until he turned twenty. Moving on to college at
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
, his major interest was in mathematics, and he graduated in 1778. Then he taught school and read for the law. In 1779 he married Mary Brown (they would have no children). Dane was admitted to the bar and set up a legal practice in Beverly in 1782. That same year, he entered elective office in the
Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...
, where he served until 1785. Dane's hearing was poor throughout his career, and steadily got worse.


Continental Congress

In 1785, Dane became a Massachusetts delegate to the Continental Congress, where he helped draft the
Northwest Ordinance The Northwest Ordinance (formally An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio and also known as the Ordinance of 1787), enacted July 13, 1787, was an organic act of the Congress of the Co ...
, which was enacted on July 13, 1787. The Ordinance encouraged American settlers into the
Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...
and formed the basis of the constitutions of the five states there:
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
,
Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
,
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
and
Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
. The Ordinance also banned slavery in the Northwest Territory. Dane's amendment banning slavery was offered at the last minute, and was quickly accepted without much discussion, to the surprise of Dane himself, who "had no idea the States would agree to the sixth article, prohibiting slavery...." In February 1787, Dane proposed a resolution authorizing the
Philadelphia Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. While the convention was initially intended to revise the league of states and devise the first system of federal government under the Articles of Conf ...
to amend the
Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation, officially the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement and early body of law in the Thirteen Colonies, which served as the nation's first Constitution, frame of government during the Ameri ...
, and that resolution was adopted.Eastman, W. Dean.
“Nathan Dane”
in ''The Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law'' edited by Roger K. Newman, pages 147-148 (2009).
Out of that Philadelphia Convention came the proposed
United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...
. But Dane had reservations about supporting its ratification. In July 1788, he finally wrote a pivotal letter of support to
Melancton Smith Melancton Smith (May 7, 1744 – July 29, 1798) was a merchant, lawyer and a New York delegate to the Continental Congress. Praised for his intelligence, liberality, and reasonableness, Smith attained considerable respect in the State of New ...
of New York. Dane said that he feared violence and social upheaval if the Constitution were not ratified, and he supported ratification with the understanding that there would be later amendments, which eventually came to be known as the
United States Bill of Rights The United States Bill of Rights comprises the first ten list of amendments to the United States Constitution, amendments to the United States Constitution. It was proposed following the often bitter 1787–88 debate over the Timeline of dr ...
.Wakelyn, John.
Birth of the Bill of Rights: Biographies
', page 58 (2004).


Later career

Dane was an unsuccessful candidate for the
United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
in 1788 and 1790. He was later elected to the Massachusetts State Senate from 1790 to 1791 and again from 1794 to 1797. In 1794 he served on a commission that reviewed and codified the laws of Massachusetts. Later, while practicing law, he remained an active reformer, on behalf of vocational education and humane treatment of prisoners. He also helped establish the American Temperance Society to discourage use and abuse of alcoholic beverages. He was a member of the
Federalist Party The Federalist Party was a conservativeMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * and nationalist American political party and the first political party in the United States. It dominated the national government under Alexander Hamilton from 17 ...
and its Essex Junto. The Massachusetts legislature appointed him as a delegate to the Hartford Convention during the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
, which damaged his reputation, although Dane saw himself as a voice of moderation at the Convention and maintained that he did not have any secessionist intentions: "Someone must go to prevent mischief," he said. Dane was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1816.


"Father of American Jurisprudence"

By 1820, Dane was almost totally deaf, but he continued working long hours in his library, writing two major legal treatises. The first of these was published in 1823, titled ''A General Abridgement and Digest of American Law''. Its eight volumes were supplemented by a ninth in 1829. The ''Abridgment'' was very successful, and was the "first systematic treatise covering the entire field of American law." It became a standard work, and every lawyer of distinction bought a copy. Dane used the substantial proceeds from the ''Abridgement'' to provide an endowment for a law school at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, specifying that the first Dane Professorship of Law would go to his old friend
Joseph Story Joseph Story (September18, 1779September10, 1845) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1812 to 1845. He is most remembered for his opinions in ''Martin ...
. For a while,
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
was called "Dane Law School." On account of the ''Abridgement'' and his generosity to the law school at Harvard, together with his co-authorship of the Northwest Ordinance, Dane has been called the "Father of American Jurisprudence." The ''Abridgment'' was often cited in later years; for example, when abolitionist Wendell Phillips argued against abolitionist
Lysander Spooner Lysander Spooner (January 19, 1808 – May 14, 1887) was an American abolitionist, entrepreneur, lawyer, essayist, natural rights legal theorist, pamphleteer, political philosopher, and writer often associated with the Boston anarchist tr ...
's notion that judges have an obligation to disregard any law that the judges deem wrong, Philips cited the following legal maxim in which Dane assigned that obligation to legislators instead of judges:
Municipal or civil law ... is the rule of municipal or civil conduct, prescribed by the superior power in the state commanding what the legislature deems right, and prohibiting what it deems wrong.
Dane's other treatise was titled a ''Moral and Political Survey of America''. It has been described as "arguably the first broad-based national history from English and Spanish colonization through the War of Independence".


Death and posthumous honors

Dane died at home in Beverly and was buried in the Central Cemetery there. Dane Street in Beverly borders the cemetery. Dane County, Wisconsin, which was formed in 1836, was named in his honor. Within Dane County, there is a Town of Dane, and within the Town of Dane is a village called Dane, Wisconsin. In 2015
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
Governor
Charlie Baker Charles Duane Baker Jr. (born November 13, 1956) is an American politician serving as the sixth president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 72nd governor of Massa ...
and Beverly Mayor Michael P. Cahill, in accordance with the anniversary of the passage of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, declared July 13–19 "Nathan Dane Week" in the state of Massachusetts and the City of
Beverly, Massachusetts Beverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, and a suburb of Boston. The population was 42,670 at the time of the 2020 United States census. A resort, residential, and manufacturing community on the Massachusetts North Sho ...
. The effort was spearheaded by Lance Daly, founder of the Beverly Heritage Project, "whose coordinated effort resulted in official proclamations from five state governors, eight historical societies from six states and a smattering of representatives calling for their states to honor Nathan Dane's impact on history."Hartley, Ethan.
Nathan Dane to be honored in Beverly
, '' Wicked Local Beverly'' (July 16, 2015).
In honor of "Nathan Dane Week," Indiana Governor
Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...
issued a proclamation making Dane an honorary Hoosier.


Writings

''General Abridgement and Digest of American Law, with Occasional Notes and Comments'':
Volume 1
' (1824) via
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Volume 2
' (1824) via
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

Volume 3
' (1824) via
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

Volume 4
' (1824) via
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

Volume 5
' (1824) via
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

Volume 6
' (1824) via
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

Volume 7
' (1824) via
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

Volume 8
' (1824) via
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

Volume 9
' (1829) via
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...


Footnotes


Further reading

*Johnson, Andrew J. ''The Life and Constitutional Thought of Nathan Dane''. New York: Garland, 1987.


External links

*
This letter was written in New York, shortly after Dane's committee had drafted the Ordinance
to his colleague
Rufus King Rufus King (March 24, 1755April 29, 1827) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was a delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convent ...
in Philadelphia. Dane describes how the work was progressing and how he slipped in language outlawing slavery from the new territories.
Joseph Story on Dane and the Ordinance


at th
Beverly Historical Society.
*
Dane, Nathan, 1752-1835
Wisconsin Historical Society. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dane, Nathan 1752 births 1835 deaths Harvard College alumni Continental Congressmen from Massachusetts Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Massachusetts state senators Massachusetts Federalists 18th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court Candidates in the 1788–1789 United States elections Candidates in the 1790–1791 United States elections