This is a purely educational website. Nothing here is legal advice or creates or implies an attorney-client relationship. If you have a specific legal issue, PLEASE talk to a lawyer who practices where you live—laws vary from place to place, and how they're applied varies from courthouse to courthouse. Your local county bar association can probably refer someone.
By using this site, you agree that you are awesome. Use of this site also constitutes acceptance of its
Terms of Service and Privacy Policies, which are known to medical science as a cure for insomnia.
It's best to keep all discussions in the comments. But if you really need to reach Nathan privately, go ahead and email him at n.e.burney@gmail.com. He won't mind.
THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO LAW and the PEEKING JUSTICE logo are pretty damn cool trademarks and should probably be registered one of these days.
© Nathaniel Burney. All rights reserved, though they really open up once you get to know them.
Yaaaaay new section!
I’m slightly embarrassed to admit it, but I check this site several times a day hoping for updates. If I ever start making the big bucks, I would definitely toss in some money to the Patreon to get to the “more frequent updates” level. Need moooooooooore.
Hmmm. VT is included.
As is Maine. 15 out of the original 13.
Ma is short for Massachusetts. Maine was part of Massachusetts then. It wasn’t made a state until 1820. (Just as Vermont was admitted to balance the creation of slave state Kentucky, Maine balanced the admission of slave state Missouri.)
Indeed, Maine was part of Mass at one point, and split off. Probably the most “Meh, whatever” secession in history.
Which kind of suits Maine, really.
Intriguing comment. Especially since Kentucky was admitted to the union 2 years after Vermont.
It was 1 year later, not 2. But you’re right, it really is intriguing.
For a fascinating longread on it, check out this article at the National Archives’ website.
The tl;dr is they both came into the union as part of a single compromise.
Were I to guess, we’re about to have a discussion dating back to the collapse of the Articles of the Confederation and the adoption of the Constitution.
The 15 ‘states’ seem to line up with the dates and timeline associated with the period.
Yup. It had seceded from New York in 1777 and set up its own independent state. Not part of the U.S. until 1791. Actually considered joining Canada for a bit. But it’s included in this map for a reason that should be apparent shortly.
Was Connecticut’s Western Reserve intentionally omitted or just forgotten? They still claimed northeast Ohio until about 1800.
for ease of reference: Wikipedia|Connecticut Western Reserve
Most of the Western Reserve had already been made part of the Northwest Territory under the Articles of Confederation (https://www.britannica.com/place/Northwest-Territory). That particular legislation was grandfathered in by Congress with the Northwest Ordinance of 1789, in a tribute the only piece of significant legislation the United States in Congress Assembled ever managed to pass. (Okay, not really; but pretty close to true.)
I have waited a long time for a part 2 title and a map of the 13 original states.
Hopefully, more pages will be coming in rapid succession now.
I’m sure Nathan would be flexible. Do you have his hourly fee handy? I certainly don’t.
Nathan’s squeezing being a webcomic artist in beside being a career litigator and family man. I follow webcomics by bachelor artists, where the webcomic is supposedly their day job, who have a looser update schedule.
I’m certainly not going to be the guy who demands that someone who is doing this for free step up production. There are far too many of those sorts as it is.
It does present an interesting thought, though.
Nathan. I understand that in some jurisdictions, (I think NY is one of them,) if you regularly let a person use your property, and never remind them that it is your property, and not a public right of way, it becomes an easement. What happens if you regularly give of your time, and don’t remind people that you’re not obligated to do so?
Granted, it’d seem like the 13th amendment would prevent that.
I’m not demanding anything. I’m just glad that Nathan has found the time to add to his series.