In the case of Brown and Others v. Jackson, a dispute arose between two parties over land in Kentucky that had been granted to one party by the state government. The other party argued that they had acquired title to the same land from an earlier grant issued by Virginia prior to Kentucky's admission into the Union. The Supreme Court held that when a state is admitted into the Union, all grants made before its admission are nullified unless expressly confirmed by Congress or recognized under some act of legislation passed after its admission. In this case, neither Congress nor any subsequent acts of legislation had confirmed or recognized Virginia’s grant; therefore it was declared void and unenforceable against Kentucky’s later grantee.

In Brown and Others v. Jackson, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a deed of trust executed by William Jackson in 1818 was valid or not. The majority opinion held that it was invalid because it had been made without consideration and therefore did not meet the requirements for a valid contract under Virginia law. However, Justice Johnson dissented from this decision on two grounds: first, he argued that there had been sufficient consideration given for the deed; second, he argued that even if there were no consideration present at all, Virginia law allowed such deeds to be enforced as long as they were properly acknowledged before an officer authorized to take acknowledgments of deeds. Thus Justice Johnson concluded that the deed should have been upheld despite its lack of consideration since it met all other legal requirements necessary for validity under Virginia law.