Gale Encyclopedia Of American Law 3Rd Edition Volume 2 P16 doc

In order to determine whether an individual
is acting as a broker in a transaction, the type of
services that are performed must be examined.
Types of Brokers
There are several kinds of brokers, each of
whom deals in specific types of transactions.
A bill-and-note broker negotiates the buying
and selling of bills of exchange and promissory
notes.
A commercial or merchandise broker is an
individual who works with buyers and sellers by
negotiating between them in the buying and
selling of goods, without having personal
custody of the property. This broker offers
services on a commission basis to manufac-
turers as a sales representative for their product.
Such a broker has no control or possession of
the product that is sent directly to the buyer;
the broker merely acts as a middleperson in all
transactions.
An insurance broker acts as an intermediary
between the insurer and the insured and is
distinguishable from an insurance agent. While
an insurance agent is employed by, and
represents, a particular insurance company, an
insurance broker is a representative of the
insured only. An insurance agent is bound by
company rules and responsibilities, whereas an
insurance broker’s only duty is to aid a client.
This kind of broker owes no obligation to any
company.

REAL ESTATE brokers or agents are hired to
transact the buying and selling,
LEASE, or rental
of real property on a commission basis. They
can also be involved with the purchase and sale
of lands and the acquisition of mortgages for
others. They may also counsel and advise people
who wish to buy or sell real estate.
Stockbrokers buy and sell shares in corpora-
tions and deal in corporation stock and in other
securities. A stockbroker’s functions are gener-
ally broader than those of other brokers. As
more than a mere negotiator, a stockbroker
makes a purchase in his or her own name and
ordinarily pays the purchase price. A stockbro-
ker is often responsible for the possession of the
securities with which he or she deals. Converse-
ly, an ordinary broker neither has title to, nor
possession of, property that is being purchased
or sold. As stockbrokers serve in a greater
capacity, their responsibilities also extend be-
yond those of ordinary brokers.
Regulation and Conduct of Business
The business or occupation of a broker may be
regulated by the state under its
POLICE POWER.A
MUNICIPAL CORPORATION has the power to regulate
brokers who function within its boundaries if
authority to do so is granted by the state.
In order for brokers to engage in business,

they are generally required to acquire a license
and pay a fee. Brokers who conduct business
without a license can be fined by state licensing
authorities. In some states, it is illegal for any
person other than a licensed broker to be paid
for services concerning real estate transactions.
Laws exist that impose a license tax on
brokers. Within the meaning of such laws, any
individual who regularly works as a middleper-
son or negotiates business transactions for the
A broker, such as this
man buying and
selling stocks on the
New York Stock
Exchange trading
floor, acts as an
intermediary in the
contracting of any
type of bargain.
AP IMAGES
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3
RD E DITION
138 BROKER
benefit of others is ordinarily considered a
broker. It has been held by a federal court that
a statute requiring brokers to obtain a license
was only applicable to those people regularly
employed as brokers. An individual only casually
involved in brokerage through the arrangement
of only a few sales would not be consid ered to

be engaged in the business of brokerage.
Revocation of License The state’s concerns
regarding brokers extend beyond initial licens-
ing to the establishment of conditions for the
maintenance of a license. The state may provide
for the revocation or suspension of brokers’
licenses for reasonable grounds.
The power to revoke a license may be vested
in a specially designated commission that exists
primarily to hear complaints about the
FRAUDU-
LENT
practices of brokers. Such proceedings are
ordinarily informal, and technical court rules
generally are not observed.
During a hearing, the commission is pre-
sented with evidence relating to the broker’s con-
duct and must consider whether such conduct
warrants denial of the privilege to engage freely
in business.
Grounds for revocation of a license are
generally based upon
FRAUD, dishonesty, incom-
petence, or
BAD FAITH in dealing with the public.
A real estate broker’s license may be revoked or
suspended because of
MISREPRESENTATION used to
effect a purchase or sale. Generally, the conduct
of a broker in negotiating a real estate transac-

tion on behalf of his or her principal is subject
to strict fraud and deceit standards, equal to
those imposed on his or her principal. It has
been held by some courts that the failure of a
broker to disclose material facts within his or
her kno wledge will create
LIABILITY. Within the
meaning of fraud is the pretense of knowledge
on the part of the broker while executing a real
estate transaction where no knowledge actually
exists—for example, while selling a house a
broker states that there are no concealed defects
in the house, although he or she does not
actually know if such defects exist.
A real estate broker’s license may be
suspended or revoked if duties are performed
unlawfully. The U.S. home real estate bubble
that broke in 2007 revealed that unscrupulous
MORTGAGE brokers throughout the United States
had created sham transactions or had encour-
aged people to apply for mortgages they could
not afford. State and federal authorities have
prosecuted a number of brokers for their
unlawful actions, and some states have tight-
ened regulations for brokers. In addition, a
broker’s license can be revoked or suspended if
a broker is guilty of racial discrimination in the
selling and leasing of property.
Stockbrokers may be liable for various
unethical activities, such as

CHURNING, which is
the unnecessary trading of stocks to gain
additional commissions. A
CONSUMER PROTECTION
organization, the Securities Investor Protection
Corporation (SIPC), was established by Con-
gress to aid customers of securities concerns
that go out of business.
Bonds State regulations usually require that
brokers, especially those engaged in the real
estate business, deliver a bond to insure faithful
performance of their duties. The liability of the
SURETY guaranteeing such a bond extends only to
transactions that arise during the normal course
of the broker’s business and that are intended to
be included in the bond.
Commissions A broker is ordinarily compen-
sated for services by the payment of a commis-
sion, based upon a portion of the value of the
property in a particular transaction.
Generally, a commission is earned when
negotiations between a buyer and seller are
completed, and an agreement is reached. It is
customary for a broker to deduct and reserve
the amount of commission from funds obtained
by him or her for a client. The ordinary basis for
the calculation of a percentage commission is
the total sale price of whatever is sold.
In order for a broker to be entitled to a
commission, a sale must be completed for

which the broker has been employed. The
broker’s right to a commission is not dependent
upon the finalization of the transaction unless
otherwise agreed upon by the broker and by his
or her client.
The compensation of a broker is based upon
procurement of a client who is willing and able
to purchase. The sp ecific terms of the transac-
tion must be satisfactory to the broker’s client.
Of paramount importance is the prospective
buyer’s ability to provide the required funds at
the suitable time. A broker who has properly
performed his or her duties should not be
denied a commission due to a failure by the
parties to consummate the deal.
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
BROKER 139
In the absence of any agreement to be
employed by a client, a broker is not to be
compensated for voluntary services. Similarly,
compensation is not due a broker when a sale is
made by an owner after the broker-client
relationship has been terminated. A common
type of termination is the expiration of a real
estate listing. This rule against the payment of a
commission is absolute—regardless of whether
the sale is made to an individual whom the
broker initially produced—provided the broker
was given ample opportunity to complete the
transaction and failed to do so. Once a broker

has earned his or her commission, a client may
not terminate the relationship and complete the
transaction himself or herself in order to avoid
paying the broker.
Any fraudulent misrepresentations or evi-
dence of bad faith on the part of the broker will
defeat his or her right to a commission. Mere
NEGLIGENCE in the execution of duties, in the
absence of bad faith, does not automatically
defeat a broker’s right to compensation.
FURTHER READINGS
Hazen, Thomas Lee. 2003. Broker-Dealer Regulation in a
Nutshell. St. Paul, Minn.: West.
Waller, Mark L. 1999. Selecting and Working with a Broker.
College Station: Texas Agricultural Extension Center.
CROSS REFERENCES
Contracts; Fraud; Insured; Insurer; License; Principal;
Securities.
BROOKINGS INSTITUTION
Founded in 1927, the Brookings Institution is a
nonpartisan (generally ideologically centrist)
organization dedicated to research, education,
and publication in the fields of economics,
foreign policy, and government. It states as its
principal purposes: “to aid in the deve lopment
of sound public policies and to promote
public understanding of issues of national
importance.”
The Brookings Institution is one of the
oldest think tanks in Washington, D.C. Its main

purpose is to conduct research into areas that
can affect and be affected by
PUBLIC POLICY.
Brookings maintains a 55,000-volume library
that is organiz ed into the following divisions:
Advanced Study, Economic Studies, Foreign
Policy Studies, Governmental Studies (which
includes some legal studies), Foreign Policy
Studies, Governmental Studies, Publications,
and a Social Science Computation Center.
The institution publishes the Brookings
Bulletin (quarterly), the Brookings Papers on
Economic Activity (twice a year), and an Annual
Report. It also publishes its extensive research in
books and reprints.
v
BROUGHAM, HENRY PETER
Henry Peter Brougham, also kno wn as Baron
Brougham and Vaux, achieved prominence as a
lawyer and statesman.
Brougham was born September 18, 1778,
in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1802 Brougham
was instrumental in the creation of the
publication the Edinburgh Review. He subse-
quently relocated to London and was admitted
to the English bar in 1808. He became a
member of Parliament in 1810, where he
voiced his opposition to
SLAVERY and trade
restrictions.

Brougham gained fame in 1820 as chief
attorney for Queen Caroline, also known as
Henry Peter Brougham 1778–1868
❖
◆
◆
◆◆
◆
◆◆
1778 Born,
Edinburgh, Scotland
1775–83
American Revolution
1802 Helped create the
Edinburgh Review
1808 Admitted to English bar
1820 Served as
chief attorney
for Queen
Caroline
1810
Became a
member of
Parliament
1825 Helped establish the Society for
the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge
1828 Helped found the
University of London
1830 Received great seal, elevated to
peerage as Baron Brougham and Vaux

1830–34 Served as
lord chancellor
1860 Became chancellor
of Edinburgh University
1861–65
U.S. Civil War
1868
Died,
Cannes,
France
1871 Life and
Times of Lord
Brougham, an
autobiography,
published
posthumously
❖
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1825

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ALTHOUGH THE

PEOPLE MUST BE THE
SOURCE OF THEIR
OWN IMPROVEMENT
,
THEY MAY BE AIDED
IN THEIR EFFORTS TO
INSTRUCT
THEMSELVES
.
—HENRY BROUGHAM
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
140 BROOKINGS INSTITUTION
Caroline of Brunswick. Caroline had married
George, Prince of Wales, in 1795, and after giving
birth to a daughter, they separated, and Caroline
lived alone. In 1806, she was accused of giving
birth to an illegitimate child, but was found
innocent by an inquiry commission. George
became king in 1820, and Caroline demanded
her place as his queen. Caroline was sued for
DIVORCE on grounds of ADULTERY, and the case
was taken to the House of Lords; Brougham
served as her attorney, and the charges were
eventually dropped.
A leader in the field of educational reform,
Brougham participated in the establishment of
the Society for the Diffusi on of Useful Knowl-
edge in 1825, and of the University of London
in 1828. From 1830 to 1834, Brougham served
as Lord Chancellor and drafted numerous legal

reforms and helped to institute the central
criminal court. He died May 7, 1868, in Cannes,
France.
v
BROWN, ADDISON
Addison Brown gained prominence as a JURIST,
botanist, and author.
He was born February 21, 1830, in West
Newbury, Massachusetts. In 1855, Brown was
admitted to the New York bar. From 1881 to
1901, he performed the duties of district judge
for the Southern District of New York.
A respected name in the field of botany,
Brown acted as one of the founders of the New
York Botanical Garden in 1891. From 1896 to
1898, Brown co-authored three volumes of
botanical research with Nathaniel L. Britton.
The series was titled Illustrated Flora of the
Northern United States, Canada and the British
Possessions. Brown died April 9, 1913, in New
York City.
v
BROWN, HENRY BILLINGS
Henry Billings Brown was an associate justice of
the Supreme Court from 1890 to 1906.
Born to a wealthy family on March 2, 1836,
at South Lee, Massachusetts, Brown attended
private schools as a child. His father, a pros-
perous merchant and manufacturer, saw to it
that Brown attended Yale University, where he

graduated in 1856. After graduation, Brown
traveled in Europe for a year, then returned to
study law at Yale and Harvard. In 1859 he
moved to Detroit and in 1860 he was admitted
to the Wayne County bar in Michigan.
Henry Peter Brougham.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Addison Brown 1830–1913
❖
❖
1830 Born, West
Newbury, Mass.
1855 Admitted to
New York bar
◆
1861–65
U.S. Civil War
1881 Appointed by
President Garfield to
district judgeship for
the Southern District
of New York
◆◆◆◆
1891 Helped
found the
New York
Botanical
Garden
1901 Retired
from bench

1898 Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States,
Canada, and the British Possessions published
1913 Died,
New York City
1914–18
World War I
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18501850
THE UNDERLYING
FALLACY OF THE
PLAINTIFF
’S
ARGUMENT
[RESTS] IN
THE ASSUMPTION
THAT THE ENFORCED
SEPARATION OF THE
TWO RACES STAMPS
THE COLORED RACE
WITH A BADGE OF
INFERIORITY
.
—HENRY BROWN
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
BROWN, HENRY BILLINGS 141

Brown was appointed deputy U.S. marshal
in 1861. Detroit at that time was a bustling
Great Lakes port, and he became involved in the
many commercial and maritime legal disputes
that arose. Two years later, he was named
assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of
Michigan. He held this post until May 1868
when he was appointed to fill a short-term
vacancy on the Wayne County
CIRCUIT COURT.
Recognized as the leading authority on
admiralty law and maritime law, Brown lec-
tured on the subjects at the University of
Michigan Law School, and compiled and
published Brown’s Admiralty Reports. In 1890
President Benjamin H. Harrison appointed him
to the U.S. Supreme Court. As a Court member,
Brown gained a reputation as a moderate but
was a staunch defender of property rights. He
was reluctant to extend constitutional protec-
tion in
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE and civil liberties
disputes, and concurred with the majority in
LOCHNER V. NEW YORK, 198 U.S. 45, 25 S. Ct. 539,
49 L. Ed. 937 (1905), which struck down a
statute calling for maximum work hours for
bakers. Lochner w as consistent with Brown’s
unwillingness to allow governmental interfer-
ence with contractual freedom.
Brown also concurred in the so-called

Insular cases, which held that residents of U.S.
territories such as Puerto Rico are not entitled
to constitutional protections. However, he
departed somewhat from his usual strict adher-
ence to judicial precedence when he voted to
uphold the federal
INCOME TAX in POLLOCK V.
FARMERS’ LOAN & TRUST CO., 158 U.S. 601, 15 S. Ct.
912, 39 L. Ed. 1108 (1895).
Brown is perhaps best remembered as the
author of the Court’s opinion in
PLESSY V.
FERGUSON, 163 U.S. 537, 16 S. Ct. 1138, 41 L.
Ed. 256, the 1896 decision upholding state-
mandated racial
SEGREGATION in railway cars as
long as the accommodations were equal. The
“separate-but-equal ” doctrine pronounced in
Plessy became the constitutional foundation
for
JIM CROW LAWS and racial discrimination,
particularly in the South. Later opinion con-
demned the Plessy decision, and indeed Brown
Henry Billings Brown.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
▼▼
▼▼
1850
Henry Billings Brown 1836–1913
1825

1875
1900
1925
❖❖
◆
◆◆◆◆
◆
◆
1836 Born,
South Lee, Mass.
1856 Graduated from
Yale University
1861–65
U.S. Civil
War
1863–68 Served as assistant U.S. attorney
for the Eastern District of Michigan
1875 Brown's Admiralty
Reports published
1870 Fifteenth Amendment
ratified, gave male U.S. citizens
of all races the right to vote
1890
Nominated
to U.S.
Supreme
Court by
President
Harrison
1896 Authored

the Court's
opinion in
Plessy v.
Ferguson
1906 Retired from the Court
1913 Died,
New York City
1920 Nineteenth
Amendment ratified,
gave women the
right to vote
1914–18 World War I
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
142 BROWN, HENRY BILLINGS
has often been criticized for his role in it;
however, the decision must be viewed in the
historical context in which it was written. Also,
the language in Plessy, requiring equality of
treatment, later became the basis of legal
challenges to segregation laws.
Failing eyesight forced Brown to retire from
the bench in 1906. He died in 1913.
FURTHER READINGS
Hall, Kermit L. 2005. Oxford Companion to the Supreme
Court of the United States. 2d ed. New York: Oxford
Univ. Press.
“Henry Billings Brown (1836–1913).” History of the Sixth
Circuit. Available online at ourts.
gov/lib_hist/Courts/supreme/judges/brown/hbb-bio.
html; website home page:

(accessed Augsut 27, 2009).
Schwartz, Bernard. 1995. A History of the Supreme Court.
2d ed. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
CROSS REFERENCES
Labor Law; Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas;
Equal Protection.
v
BROWN, JOHN
JOHN BROWN was a charismatic, stubborn aboli-
tionist who failed at numerous business and
commercial enterprises, yet succeeded in con-
vincing men to join him in a cause for which
they were willing to die. His abolitionist beliefs
translated into violent actions in Kansas and
Harpers
FERRY, Virginia. Convicted of MURDER and
TREASON for his raid on military facilities at
Harpers Ferry, Brown was hanged for his crimes.
Nevertheless, he galvanized the abolitionist
cause, becoming a martyr in the fight against
SLAVERY.
Brown was born in Torrington, Connecti-
cut, on May 9, 1800, to Owen and Ruth Brown.
His father, a strict Calvinist, despised slavery.
When Brown was five years old, the family
moved to Hudson, Ohio, a locale that was
steeped in anti-slavery sentiment. Brown’s
fervor for the anti-slavery movement never
waned and grew more vehement as he got older.
In 1820 Brown married Dianthe Lusk, and

six years later they moved to Pennsylvania
where he started a tannery. Lusk died in 1832,
leaving Brown with five children. In 1833 he
John Brown.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES
AND RECORDS ADMINIS-
TRATION
John Brown 1800–1859
▼▼
▼▼
18001800
18751875
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18251825
❖
◆
◆
◆
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◆
◆
◆
◆
❖
◆
◆
◆
1800 Born,
Torrington, Conn.
1820 Married Dianthe Lusk

and moved to Pennsylvania
1820 Missouri Compromise
enacted, limiting slavery
1842 Filed for bankruptcy after
failed business ventures
1848 Free Soil Party founded
opposing slavery in territories
1847 Met Abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass
1849 Moved to North Elba, New York;
participated in Underground Railroad
1854
Kansas-
Nebraska
Act passed
1861–65
U.S. Civil War
1865 Thirteenth Amendment
abolished slavery
1857 Supreme Court issues Dred Scott
decision; Missouri Compromise unconstitutional
1855 Moved to "Bleeding Kansas"; commits
acts of violence against pro-slavery settlers
1859 October 16 raid against federal armory in
Harpers Ferry, Virginia; convicted of murder,
conspiracy and treason; died on December 2
1858 Freed 11 slaves and brought them to Canada
1857–59 Lectured to anti-slavery groups in New England
I BELIEVE TO HAVE
INTERFERED AS
I

HAVE DONE
IN BEHALF OF HIS
DESPISED POOR
, WAS
NOT WRONG
, BUT
RIGHT
.NOW, IF IT BE
DEEMED NECESSARY
THAT
I SHOULD
FORFEIT MY LIFE FOR
THE FURTHERANCE OF
THE ENDS OF JUSTICE
I SUBMIT: SO LET
IT BE DONE
—JOHN BROWN
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
BROWN, JOHN 143
married 16-year-old Mary Ann Day who bore
him seven more children. Brown and his
growing fam ily moved around the country
while he tried his hand at a number of
occupations, including tanner, farmer, cattle
broker, and wool merchant.
In 1835 Brown’s attempts to support his
family and to repay money he had borrowed led
to a disastrous “get rich quick” scheme. He
convinced family members and friends to loan
him money that he used to buy property where

a canal was to be built. His timing proved
unfortunate. In the wake of the Panic of 1837,
plans for the proposed canal were changed and
the properties bought up by Brown and his
associates were rendered nearly wor thless.
Brown made numerous other attempts to reach
financial
SOLVENCY, but ultimately was forced to
declare
BANKRUPTCY in 1842.
Throughout his life Brown remained com-
mitted to the anti-slavery cause. Brown met the
great abolitionist leader
FREDERICK DOUGLASS in
1847 and impressed Douglass with his sympathy
for African Americans—both slaves and free-
men. In 1849, Brown moved his family to the
black community of North Elba, New York.
Brown proposed to show the residents of North
Elba how to farm and to act as a mentor to them.
Brown was a participant in the Underground
Railroad, an informal network of ex-slaves and
sympathetic whites that helped slaves escape
their masters and travel north to freedom. In
1851, he proposed the establishment of the
League of Gileadites, an organization that would
be used to protect escaped slaves.
In 1854 Congress passed the
KANSAS-
NEBRASKA ACT, which called for the residents of

the new territories to decide the issue of slavery
by popular vote. The area became known as
“bloody Kansas” as competing groups fought
violent skirmishes aimed at securing the
territories for their side. Many pro-slavery
residents of Missouri moved across the border
in hopes of securing a victory at the election.
Five of Brown’s sons had moved to Kansas
and they entreated their father to join them. In
1855 Brown moved to Kansas and began to plan
for the armed conflict he felt was inevitable. In
1856, in response to escalating incidents includ-
ing the sacking of the anti-slaver y town of
Lawrence, Kansas, and the near-fatal beating
of U.S. Senator
CHARLES SUMNER who was
attacked on the Senate floor by a pro-slavery
congressman, Brown led a small band of men to
Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas, where they killed
five pro-slavery settlers. This violent action by
Brown was hailed by a number of anti-slavery
groups and universally reviled by pro-slavery
forces.
In December 1858 Brown and a small group
of followers staged a raid on two pro-slavery
homesteads in Missouri where they succeeded
in confiscating property and freeing 11 slaves.
Brown and his group then traveled more than a
thousand miles to deliver the former slaves to a
boat that would carry them to freedom in

Canada.
Although many abolitionists were opposed
to violence, others had begun to adopt Brown’s
view that armed conflict was necessary in order
to achieve the
ABOLITION of slavery. Between
1857 and 1859, Brown crisscrossed New
England, giving rousing speeches to anti-slavery
groups and raising money for the abolitionist
cause. Among those who gave money were the
Secret Six, a group of wealthy benefactors from
Boston who helped Brown by funding the army
he sought to lead in order to further conduct his
war against slavery.
On October 16, 1859, the 59-year-old
Brown led his Provisional Army, consisting of
five black men and 21 whites (three of them his
sons) in a nighttime raid on the town of
Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown and his men
cut telegraph wires, took several
HOSTAGES
and gained control of the federal armory and
arsenal. Brown’s plan was to arm slaves with
WEAPONS from the arsenal, thus enabling them to
fight for their freedom. Howeve r, he and his
group found themselves pinned down by a
group of local citizens and nearby
MILITIA groups
who killed a number of his men including two
of his sons.

On the morning of October 18, a contingent
of U.S. marines led by Colonel Robert E. Lee
joined the battle. Brown refused a chance to
surrender and 36 hours after the raid had
started, Brown and his remaining companions
were captured. Brown was taken to Charles
Town, Virginia, (now West Virginia) to be
tried. In a trial that lasted for nearly a month,
Brown was charged with murder,
CONSPIRACY,
and treason against the state. He was found
guilty of all three charges. Before hearing his
sentence, Brown gave a brief but passionate
statement to the court:
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
144 BROWN, JOHN
I believe to have interfered as I have
done in behalf of His despised poor, was
not wrong, but right. Now, if it be deemed
necessary that I should forfeit my life to the
furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle
my blood further with the blood of my
children, and with the blood of millions in
this slave country whose rights are disre-
garded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enact-
ments, I submit: so let it be done.
Brown was hanged in Charles Town on
December 2, 1859. On the day of his execution,
guns were fired and bells tolled in many
northern cities. Brown w as hailed as a martyr

of the abolitionist movement, which concluded
that a peaceful solution could not be found. In
April 1861 Confederate forces fired on Fort
Sumter, an action that marked the beginning of
the Civ il War. In 1865 Congress passed the
THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT, which abolished slavery
throughout the United States.
FURTHER READINGS
DeVillers, David. 2000. The John Brown Slavery Revolt Trial:
A Headline Court Case. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow.
“John Brown’s Holy War.” PBS: The American Experience.
Available online at />brown/index.html; website home page: http://www
.pbs.org (accessed July 9, 2009).
Lubet, Steven. 2001. “John Brown’s Trial.” Alabama Law
Review 52 (winter).
Oates, Stephen B. 1984. To Purge This Land with Blood.
Amherst: Univ. of Massachusetts Press.
Peterson, Merrill D. 2002. John Brown: The Legend Revisited.
Charlottesville: Univ. of Virginia Press.
CROSS REFERENCE
Abolition.
v
BROWN, JOSEPH EMERSON
Joseph Emerson Brown was born April 15,
1821, in Pickens District, South Carolina. He
was a graduate of the Yale Law School class of
1846, and was admitted to the Georgia bar.
In 1849 Brown entered politics and served in
the Georgia Senate. In 1852 he was a presidential
elector and in 1855 he served as a circuit judge.

Brown became governor of Georgia in 1857
and, for the next eight years, voiced his opposi-
tion to Jefferson Davis, president of the
CONFED-
ERACY
, concerning involuntary service in the
ARMED SERVICES and the elimination of the WRIT
of HABEAS CORPUS. He was a strong supporter of
states’ rights and often spoke out against the
authority of a centralized government. In 1865
he was imprisoned but was released by President
ANDREW JOHNSON shortly afterwards.
From 1868 to 1870 Brown again served in
the judiciary, presiding as chief justice of the
Georgia Supreme Court.
Joseph Emerson
Brown.
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Joseph Emerson Brown 1821–1894
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1894 Died,
Atlanta,
Georgia
1880–91
Represented
Georgia
in the U.S.
Senate
1868–70 Served as
chief justice of the
Georgia Supreme Court
1865 Civil War ended; briefly imprisoned
along with most of Southern leadership
1861 Civil War began; Jefferson Davis
became president of Confederacy
1855 Became
circuit judge
1846 Graduated from
Yale Law School
1848 Elected to Georgia state Senate
1852 Served as presidential elector
1856 Elected
Governor of
Georgia;
became

staunch
states'
rights
advocate
1821 Born,
Pickens District, S.C.
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
BROWN, JOSEPH EMERSON 145
Brown entered federal government service
in 1880, repr esenting Georgia in the U.S. Senate
for an eleven-year period, retiring in 1891. He
died November 30, 1894, in Atlanta.
v
BROWN, RONALD HARMON
The career of RONALD HARMON BROWN is a portrait
of a consummate Washington, D.C., insider. As
an African American attorney, Brown broke
several color barriers during his rapid rise in
politics from the 1970s to the early 1990s. He first
entered the public eye as a
CIVIL RIGHTS leader for
the
NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE. Soon his reputation
for persuasiveness and ingenuity led to a variety
of assignments: political strategist to Senator
EDWARD M. KENNEDY (D-Mass.) and JESS E JACKSON,
chief counsel of the U.S.
SENATE JUDICIARY
COMMITTEE
, and lobbyist for foreign governments.

In the 1980s Brown became the first black
chairman of the Democratic National Commit-
tee (DNC). He steered the
DEMOCRATIC PARTY
toward a more centrist position, thus helping
prepare the way for President Bill Clinton’s
election in 1992. Clinton picked him to head the
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.AlthoughBrownhad
some notable successes in reviving the lifeless
BUREAUCRACY, allegations of corruption damaged
his tenure.
Born on August 1, 1941, in Washington,
D.C., Brown was raised in the company of
successful role models. His parents, William
Brown and Gloria Brown-Carter, were both
graduates of Howard University, and they
moved the family to Harlem, where William
managed the Hotel Theresa. Brown grew up in
the hotel, surrounded by famous black enter-
tainers and celebrities: it was a stopover for
them after playing Harlem’s Apollo Theater. As
a young man, he attended Middlebury College,
where he was the school’s first black fraternity
pledge. He married Alma Arrington in 1962,
and then served in the Army from 1963 to 1967,
attaining the rank of captain. Leaving the
service, he joined the National Urban League
as a
WELFARE caseworker. Brown did not toil in
the trenches for long. His skill at negotiation

stood out, and, after adding a law degree
from St. John’s University, he became the
Ronald Harmon Brown 1941–1996
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1939–45
World War II
1941 Born,
Washington, D.C.
1950–53
Korean War
◆
1961–73
Vietnam War
1962 Graduated
from Middlebury
College
1963–67
Served in
U.S Army
1968–79 Served as
counsel, later on the
executive committee of
National Urban League

1979–80 Served as deputy campaign manager of
Senator Ted Kennedy's presidential campaign
1981–88 Served
as chief counsel
on Democratic
National
Committee
◆
1988 Ran Jesse
Jackson's presidential
campaign
1989–92 Became first African-
American chairman of the
Democratic National Committee
◆
1993 Appointed secretary
of the Department of
Commerce
1996 Died,
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Ron Brown.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
WE’RE COMPETING
EVERYWHERE FOR
CONTRACTS BECAUSE
THAT MEANS JOBS
AND A STRONG
ECONOMY
, AND WE
INTEND TO WIN

.
—RONALD BROWN
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
146 BROWN, RONALD HARMON
organization’s Washington, D.C., vice president
and assumed the role of spokesman.
The give-and-take of politics suited Brown.
“What I love most,” he said, “is changing minds.”
In 1979 Brown’s association with the Democratic
party got a boost when Senator Kennedy named
Brown his deputy campaign manager in an
unsuccessful run at the presidency. The job
marked the beginning of a stellar ascent through
party politics. Kennedy chose Brown as chief
counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee—and
that position led to a stint as chief counsel of the
DNC, the party’s steering council. By the mid-
1980s, Brown was an insider, well-known and
highly regarded in the nation’scapital.
Politics offers alluring choices to its best-
connected practitioners, liberal and conserva-
tive, and Brown’s next career move was
perfectly in step with the ethos of Washington,
D.C. Brown became a lobbyist. He joined the
Washington, D.C., firm of Patton, Boggs, and
Blow, known for its high-profile clients. The
attorney had no shortage of these: the busi-
nesses he represented included the financial
giant American Express and twenty-one differ-
ent Japanese electronics firms. Yet what gained

him notoriety was his represent ation of foreign
nations. He worked fo r the interests of Zaire,
Guatemala, and Haiti, and the last two affilia-
tions, in particular, hurt him. While he lobbied
on behalf of Haitian strongman Jean-Claude
(“Baby Doc”) Duvalier, Haitian citizens suffered
political repression and saw their national
treasury pillaged. Guatemalans were tortured
and murdered. Later, when Brown prepared to
assume the high position of secretary of
COMMERCE, critics would be quick to recall that
he had supported dictators.
Democrats wanted Brown back, and he left
LOBBYING to become chairman of the DNC. The
job demanded much: Democrats, after all, had
failed to capture the White House since 1976.
He had to unify a party that had lost three
consecutive presidential elections, seen massive
defections of its traditional voters, and suffered
from an identity crisis that split its moderate
and left-wing members. He also had to soothe
fears that he was too closely allied with one of
the party’s most liberal leaders, Jesse Jackson.
“My chairmanship won’t be about race,” he told
critics. “It will be about the races we win over
the next four years.” As it happened, Brown was
everything the ailing party hoped for. He helped
orchestrate a shift to the center in the Demo-
crats’ national agenda—aba ndoning traditional
bullishness on

TAXATION and welfare, for in-
stance, and asserting a pro-business outlook—
which paved the way for the centrist candidacy
of Clinton. And as a party boss, he was decisive.
Once Clinton emerged as the front-runner,
Brown curtailed the primary process; he even
secured Jackson’s endorsement. “This party was
ready,” Mickey Kantor, Clinton’s campaign
manager, said after the elect ion, “and it was
because of Ron Brown the best chairman
we’ve ever had.”
As a reward, Clinton nominated Brown for
the
CABINET role of secretary of the Department
of Commerce. Originally conceived as a regula-
tory agency, Commerce had seen better days;
by the 1990s both liberal and conservative
critics considered it to be an ineffective
bureaucracy tied up in red tape. Despite his
credentials and the reform-minded talk of the
Clinton administration, Brown’s nomination
faced some fears and objections. Business
worried about his being too tough on it with
new regulations. Some critics, such as the
Center for Public Integrity, worried about the
opposite. This nonpartisan watchdog group
argued that Brown was too well connected to
avoid potential conflicts of interest: he would
have to regulate industries and foreign countries
that he had once represented, seemingly in

contradiction to Clinton’s promise to clamp
down on the selling of influence by political
appointees. The group’s December 1992 report,
The Torturer’s Lobby, hammered Brown for
representing repressive governments. Brown
called the Center’s charges an attempt at
implying “guilt by association.” The Senate
confirmed him with little difficulty.
As commerce secretary, Brown won praise
for breathing new life into the department. He
revived its export programs, winning lucrative
multibillion-dollar contracts for U.S. aircraft
and
TELECOMMUNICATIONS firms. He also presided
over a $900 million annual budget for promot-
ing high technology in small and medium-sized
business, nearly double the amount spent
during the administration of George H. W.
Bush. The New Republic called him “the most
formidable Commerce secretary since Herbert
Hoover” (May 1, 1995). Business fears about
his being too liberal proved to be wrong; he
was utterly pro-business, even to the point of
attracting criticism for helping McDonnell
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
BROWN, RONALD HARMON 147