Aspects of Slavery and Freedom Seeking in North Carolina
Fire-Poison and Arson
Some acts of confrontation were intended to be violent but silent. Poison was one of those acts. Enslaved persons, mainly conjurers and medicine persons, were familiar with herbal medicines. Their knowledge could be used to help or harm. Slaveholders were often cautious with conjurers because of their root knowledge. Their caution, however, did not prevent the enslaved from attempting to poison slaveholders and others. The colonial and antebellum records hold a plethora of poison and poison attempts.Poison
The desire to kill a slaveholder occurred for multiple reasons, including personal vengeance reasons, self-defense, or in the defense of others. For example, in what appears to be an act of vengeance, an enslaved woman named Beck poisoned Harry Taylor Sr., Harry Taylor Jr., and Samuel Taylor. It is likely that Buck poisoned the adult men of the family because of misconduct. Likewise, Eliza in 1861 seems to have poisoned the child of D.A. Jenkins of Gatson county for vengeful reasons.
Although not North Carolina, we can gain some understanding from the confession of Fanny. Fanny poisoned an entire family and recorded that “her object was to kill no else but Mrs. Steward, for the reason that she intended to visit her summer residence, taking Fanny with her.” It seems that Mrs. Stewart deliberately tried to take Fanny away from family, and despite Fanny’s request to stay, Mrs. Stewart did not change her plans to take Fanny. Fanny, in turn, poisoned her.
Some acts or attempts of poison were not centered on personal vengeance but some carried aims to defend others and cast a blow to the institution of slavery. It is recorded that plans, by enslaved persons in Wayne county, were made in 1805 to poison as many whites as possible. The plan was to poison the male slaveholders and hold women and children captive. A female slave was implicated for poisoning “her master, mistress and two others.” She was executed (burned alive) for this crime. She was not alone, as two other enslaved persons were also executed (by hanging). Others who were thought to be a part of the plot were jailed and heavily guarded. Others implicated resided in Sampson and Johnston counties. Of those jailed, some were whipped, some had their ears cropped, pillared, and nailed, others were whipped and banished from the state, and the remaining were “acquitted for want of sufficient evidence to convict them.”
Arson
Unlike acts of poison, arson often comprised acts of resistance. With arson, some form of damage or loss was desired. Although arson was often an act of non-violence, sometimes it was an act of resistance that intended to be violent. For example, in 1856, “a negro girl last week set fire to the kitchen of Mr. A.H. Whitefield in Fayetteville. The flames consumed the dwelling, and both were killed.”
Some acts were non-violent. For instance, “a negro belonging to Mr. Hugh Wilson of this county, was committed to jail on Monday last, on a charge of having set fire to the dwelling house of Mr. Thomas Thompson, of Crane Creek. The house was set on fire while the family were at church on Sunday, and previous to setting it on fire, it is supposed the negro had robbed it of some sixty dollars in cash.” The North Carolina July 15, 1843
In another case, an enslaved person burnt down a Charlotte jail in order to escape from the jail on September 19th, 1829. Hillsborough Record October 7th, 1829
Some acts of arson may have incidentally killed when the target could have been materially focused, as was the case in Chatham county in 1854 when a “negro, charged with setting fire to a cotton gin, or barn, in which a man was burnt to death.” Spirit of the Age, September 27, 1854
“The possibility of arson by slaves was prominently mentioned in advocating curfew laws, and in establishing night watches. This, a citizen of Edenton, North Carolina in 1807 urged the enactment of a curfew regulation and the selection of sufficient number of a sufficient number of vigilant and trusty men’ to enforce its observance were this done, said he, order and peace would reign and one might sleep undisturbed by the...distress apprehensions of fire and other casualties.” Additionally, “After two attempts at arson in Plymouth, North Carolina, a patrol was organized which walked the streets at night and cried out the hour.”
Historian Norris Jones noted, “Arson was a one time-tested move of black protest, at once the most costly act of resistance for planters and the safest for perpetrators.” He noted, “Few suspect an confession and few were caught in the act.”