NCJ Number
139344
Date Published
1988
Length
367 pages
Annotation
Based on the premise that conflict is a revealing indication of the nature of any society, this examination of the history of the relationship between enslaved African-Americans and the criminal courts of the Old Dominion (Virginia) from 1705 to 1865 traces the manner in which slaves and whites in Virginia developed conflicting perceptions of legitimate behavior and then acted on the basis of those perceptions.
Abstract
Based on the investigation of the records of more than 4,000 trials, the author demonstrates that in the mid-17th century, when blacks were only a small part of the colony's population, black defendants were tried in much the same manner as whites; however, as the slave system grew, the slave code and special courts for accused bondspeople were instituted, and the judicial system became another tool for the control of the enslaved. Simultaneously, much of the lawbreaking by blacks expressed not only overt resistance to oppression, but subtle effects by slaves to gain a degree of personal autonomy. This study concludes that the relationship between slaves and the white-controlled justice system was never static. The analysis of trial records reveals that there were major variations in slaves' attacks on whites, and even on other slaves, depending on where they lived, how long they had lived there, and the previous behavior of other slaves in that area. Accusations against slaves and punishments exacted also varied from one white community to another. Although the author concedes that trial records cannot provide a comprehensive view of slave resistance, he advises that they do provide the best indication yet available of slaves' challenges to white authority and control and of white responses to those challenges. 33 tables, chapter footnotes, appended information on slaves hanged or transported for conspiracy and insurrection (1785- 1831), 168-item bibliography, and subject index