Ned was an enslaved African owned by Oscar J.E. Stuart, a lawyer and planter from Mississippi, known for inventing the innovative “double plow and scraper.” Despite the practical importance of the invention, Ned could not patent it due to his status as a slave. And his master’s attempts to patent the invention in his own name also failed, as he could not legally claim to be the inventor. This case is a striking example of patent racism, where systemic racial discrimination not only deprived enslaved Africans of potential economic benefits but also stripped them of recognition for their intellectual contributions and legal protection for their inventions.
Background
In the 19th century, the United States was a land of profound innovation and progress, but also one of deep racial inequality. Among the many ways this inequality manifested was in the realm of intellectual property law, where patent racism ensured that enslaved Africans could not claim ownership of their inventions. Slaves were considered property themselves, and as such, they were denied the legal capacity to hold patents for their creations. This exclusion from the patent system was not just a denial of economic opportunity but also a deliberate erasure of the contributions of African Americans to technological and agricultural advancements.
The Legal Framework of Patent Racism
Under U.S. law, only free citizens had the right to patent inventions. The patent system required the inventor to swear an oath affirming that the creation was their own. For slaves, who were legally considered property, this was impossible. They were not recognized as persons in the eyes of the law and, therefore, could not claim ownership of anything they created. Any invention made by a slave was automatically deemed the property of their owner, who, paradoxically, could not claim a patent unless they were the actual inventor.
Ned’s Invention and Its Significance
During the 1850s, Southern planters were keen on developing labor-saving devices to enhance agricultural productivity. Among the notable inventions was the Stuart Double Plow and Double Scraper, which was conceived by Ned, an African-American blacksmith owned by Oscar J.E Stuart.
The invention of the Stuart Double Plow and Double Scraper was significant because it represented a major advancement in agricultural technology, improving the efficiency of plowing and scraping, which was crucial for labor-intensive Southern plantations.
Recognizing the invention’s potential, Stuart, Ned’s master, sought to patent the invention to gain exclusive rights to its production and sale. However, Stuart faced a legal roadblock: because Ned was a slave, he could not file a patent in his name, and Stuart could not claim to be the inventor.
Stuart’s attempts to secure a patent were rejected by the U.S. Patent Office, which upheld the requirement that the inventor must be free and capable of taking the patent oath. Stuart’s appeals to higher government officials, including the Secretary of the Interior and the U.S. Attorney General, were also unsuccessful. The legal opinion rendered by the Attorney General confirmed that “a machine invented by a slave, though it be new and useful, cannot, in the present state of the law, be patented.”
Despite the legal setbacks, Stuart decided to manufacture and sell the plows without patent protection, pricing them at $40 each. However, the high cost of the Stuart Double Plow compared to other products like the Yost Plow and Scraper, which sold for around $10, likely limited its market success. With the onset of the Civil War and Mississippi’s secession in 1861, Stuart abandoned the venture and took up a commission as a Colonel in the Confederate Army, never resuming the production or sale of the plows after the war.
As for Ned, the historical record is silent on what became of him after the failed attempt to patent his invention. The erasure of his legacy is a clear reminder of the countless African Americans whose ingenuity was suppressed by the institution of slavery.
contributing to the historical erasure of African American inventors from the narrative of American innovation.
Source:
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.2307/2717659?journalCode=jnh
