Aspects of Slavery and Freedom Seeking in North Carolina Main Menu Creative Commons License Preface and Acknowledgements ArcOnline Maps and ArcStory Maps Additional Project Components Introduction Earth Wood Fire Water Wind Escaping Network to Freedom Underground Railroad Locations Maps and Additional Resources Resources Brian Robinson 351175f8b63e375b96b75c26edde5534c94e8162 Torren Gatson 9cd3f098d43ed240801c35d1d0fd0737b5602944 Rhonda Jones 4c7a2610c10c17f5b487bcebc8abbbf64c221aa6 Arwin Smallwood 329b2d587e93ceaac77a3b3e316b5ce377128ac0 Self-Publish
Slave Codes
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Wind-Slavery and the Law
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Between 1715 and 1763, the North Carolina General Assembly revised earlier laws that fixated the status of civil rights between servants and slaves. In 1723, laws were passed that required free African Americans to leave the state within six months.By way of law, "blacks are always at the mercy of the whites - a position which no uncolored person, I am sure, would be willing to occupy."
Thereafter, those who returned to the area would be sold into slavery for seven years. In the aftermath of the 1793 Stono Rebellion in nearby South Carolina, in 1741, Governor Gabriel Johnston passed the North Carolina General Assembly modeled after similar laws set in Virginia and South Carolina, which firmly established a comprehensive slaveholding code.
As a clause in the Fundamental Constitutions, “An Act Concerning Servants and Slaves” conveyed, “Every freeman shall have absolute power and authority over negro slaves in opinion and religion so ever.” Slaves were recognized as “chattel to be bought, bred, worked, neglected, marked or treated in any respect as a horse or a cow.”
Alarmed by the increasing numbers of free African Americans, the Assembly began inserting laws to restrict their rights. In addition, the Assembly enacted strict penalties and regulations to keep enslaved Africans from running away, engaging in uprisings, and rebelling. Section 2 of the 1741 Slave Code stated, “Any Christian servant who ran away from his master should on being captured be compelled to serve above his regular period of servitude double the time he was away, and in addition, such longer time as the court should deem sufficient to repay the master for whatever damage he may have sustained.”
The ordinance further stated, if any person or persons directly or indirectly tempted or persuaded a slave to leave, plotted to carry a slave away, and conspired to harbor or conceal a slave, then he or she would be lawfully convicted by the court and made to pay the slave master or mistress 25 pounds or the equivalent value thereof for each slave. Runaway servants or slaves were brought before the court and received no more than 39 lashes across their bare backs. Section 47 declared that if more than three slaves were suspected of plotting insurrection, murder, or any type of rebellion, then they would be charged as felons and sentenced to death. With restrictive measures placed on every aspect of their lives, slaves were only allowed to travel off the plantation at night with a written pass from their master or mistress. The “Pattie Rollers” were hired to patrol the roads, given the authority to whip anyone without a written pass, and mounted on horseback armed with guns and whips and with dogs at their sides.
Any person caught helping a runaway for more than one night had to pay the master 10 shillings for a 24-hour period and the cost for other damages. Owners who failed to provide passes for their slaves to travel outside the plantation were fined five shillings, and the slaves were arrested. As penalties for helping runaways increased, failure to pay meant the person could be sold to the court until the debt was resolved.
Slave masters completely controlled slaves’ bodies, determined their relationships, and denied their personal right to freely express themselves. Fearful of actual and rumored slave insurrections, African American gatherings were perceived with suspicion. Separate or independent Black churches were not permitted, and it was illegal for slaves to worship without the presence of a white person.
Denied their own space, slaves attended church services with whites, which they outnumbered in the galleries and pews on any given Sunday. Some slaveholders hired a visiting clergyman to preach on their plantations for those who could not participate in religious services regularly. In contrast, others read to their slaves from prayer books, printed sermons, or Bible lessons. As learning to read and write was restricted by law or social custom, slaves learned the Bible by hearing it being preached. As their spirituality emerged, the memorialized Biblical stories became folktales, and they creatively synthesized music into distinctive chants and songs.
Although Christianity did not completely satisfy their desires for safety and security, at the very least, religion granted them the agency to worship as they saw fit. Beginning in 1739, the dramatic preaching of Methodist and Baptist ministers fostered emotionally charged religious revivals that spread throughout southern colonies. Recognizing spirituality regardless of wealth, status, or education, all classes of colonial society were drawn to the open-air camp meetings, including enslaved Africans.
Unlike more formal church services, the emotionally charged revivals provided food and fellowship and allowed blacks and whites to worship, cry, and pray together. Although slaves experience brief moments of freedom, whites closely monitored the behavior of slaves as they sat on the church balcony. The intensity of such stirred emotions converted far more Africans to Christianity than earlier efforts, which had failed. More importantly, the camp meetings’ circus-like atmosphere made it possible for people to slip away unnoticed by the masters’ watchful eyes.
Some slave owners were compelled to hire Black preachers who delivered uplifting and inspirational Gospel messages but did not mention freedom or equality. As a result, slaves developed an extensive religious life that thrived outside of the traditional boundaries of the church. As no more than three enslaved persons were allowed to hold independent worship services at night, they secretly held their religious meetings in cabins, woods, thickets, and hollows, where they interpreted Christianity and the Bible in accordance with their lives. Strengthened by the belief that salvation lay in obeying God’s law rather than man’s, some slaves risked great peril while attending forbidden prayer meetings so they could worship God outside of the control and supervision of slave owners and overseers. Nevertheless, beatings did not stop slaves from offering prayers for providing emotional and physical resistance to slavery.
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Fire-Restrictions
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The experience and anticipation of resistance, vengeance, and general acts of defiance pushed slaveholders to find ways to restrict enslaved people's mobility and arrest subversive behavior.
Slaveholders also desired to stop subversive activity out of their fear of unpredictable black behavior and frustrated acts of resistance, and the desire to gain greater control over slave labor mainly to secure wealth. North Carolina, like other states, developed slave codes.
Discussing some of these restrictions are important in order to gain a wider context of the institution of slavery, gain insights into what enslaved people faced from a legal standpoint relating to the social behavior of whites, and become familiar with the ongoing battle between the enslaved and the slaveholders.
In order to maintain the institutions of slavery, leaders of the state had to ensure that the enslaved were not helped to overturn the institution in no way; therefore, laws and customs were first formed to prevent the premature end of slavery by members of the slaveholding class-other whites. Other restrictions were directly toward enslaved people and to prevent their intellectual growth, economic activity, and mental mobility. Some restrictions are as follows: enslaved people could not teach others to read, enslaved people were not permitted to sell spirituous liquors, and it was illegal for enslaved people to meet for the purpose of dancing without permission.
In addition, enslaved people were forbidden to hunt with guns. “Anyone who found a slave so hunting might take the gun for his own use and carry the slave to the nearest constable [sheriff or jail], who should act once give the slave twenty lashes on his bare back and the owner should pay the same reward as was paid for taking up a runaway.”
To prevent unimpeded mobility and respond to the threat of slave rebellion, in 1753, slave patrols were established. Patrols were placed to restrict the physical and mental movement of enslaved people.
As patrols became a staple in North Carolina, enslaved people had to account for the presence of patrols in making plans when they wanted to travel without permission from their slaveholders.
Patrols were also giving power to search the slave quarters, seeking out weapons and other forbidden items such as reading materials or stolen items. For example, “in 1779, it [patrols] was required to make a general search once a month and to report to the County Court. Slaves off their master’s plantations on Sunday were to be arrested, unless they had passes or were in the company of a white man.”
Patrols were also in charge of visiting “suspected places, to disperse assemblages of slaves, to be diligent in arresting runaways, to detect thefts, and to report persons who traded with slaves.” For the slave community, patrols made secrecy and memory all the more important.
The effectiveness of patrol varied based on the place and time. Often many white citizens did not want to be force to patrol and neglected their duties when patrol duties fell to their responsibility. One writer noted that he refused to continue to do so after two nights of patrol. “The reason why I refused was this, orders were given to search every negro house for books or prints of any kind, and Bibles and hymn books were particularly mentioned. And should we find any, our orders were to inflict punishment by whipping the slave until he informed who gave them to him, or how they came by them.” [testimony of Mr. Hiram White]
Slaveholders, too, sometimes resented patrols and searches. “Many owners felt that it was a violation of their primacy for patrollers to enter slave quarters on their plantation and search for contraband. Other slaveholders refused to submit to a patroller’s authority to whip their slaves, and for that reason, patrollers were often the target of lawsuits.”
The Risk of patrolling (The North Carolinian September 07, 1850). To see another example of patrol neglect, click here
As theft was the typical problem of the slave institution, slave law forbade slaves from trading without consent of one’s slaveholder to combat theft. Nonetheless, theft and selling were hard to contain, and this is shown by the fact that “between 1826 and 1833 a series of laws enumerated the articles which slaves might not sell without the consent of their masters.”
The need to continue to find ways to prevent enslaved persons from selling and trading shows that enslaved people did not find it difficult to find ways to trade despite the law. Moreover, trade between enslaved persons and the whites was never restrained.
Click here to read more about the slave and free black codes: North Carolina. Slaves and Free Persons of Color. An Act Concerning Slaves and Free Persons of Color
Despite the law, true control of the enslaved rested on violence, the threat of violence, and punishment. The law could only do as much, as there were persons to enforce the law, and this tended to not be as useful, as the laws were often customarily enforced.
Laws were ambiguous and discretionary, and enforcement was often according to local customs and user advantages. In fact, the inconsistency of enforcement is best understood when thinking through the lens of who gained the advantage. Laws were either enforced or not enforced depending on advantage. If advantage could be gained from ignoring the law, then it was ignored. If advantage could be gained by enforcing the law, then it was enforced.
Although the right to hunt with guns was against the law, it was common to find slaves hunting with guns. In fact, some “by the book” slaveholders such as William Lockhart petitioned the court for Reuven, an enslaved man, to carry a gun of his plantation—see petition here Petition
The law and its enforcement of the laws was not only carried out by citizens, citizens on patrol duties, but also by citizens who worked as sheriffs. Like patrols, the office of sheriff began in colonial North Carolina. The sheriff had a number of duties. In regard to slavery, sheriffs served as jail keepers, and their responsibilities included watching over runaways or enslaved people held to prevent their running away or serve as punishment for another crime. Sheriffs also had the job of raising troops to stop slave insurrections and detaining slaves for debt. If the debt remained unpaid, they had duties to sell slaves in a public auction. They also had to list notices in local towns and newspapers about captured runaways and sell unclaimed enslaved persons in public auctions.
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Fire-Restrictions
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The experience and anticipation of resistance, vengeance, and general acts of defiance pushed slaveholders to find ways to restrict enslaved people's mobility and arrest subversive behavior.
Slaveholders also desired to stop subversive activity out of their fear of unpredictable black behavior and frustrated acts of resistance, and the desire to gain greater control over slave labor mainly to secure wealth. North Carolina, like other states, developed slave codes.
Discussing some of these restrictions are important in order to gain a wider context of the institution of slavery, gain insights into what enslaved people faced from a legal standpoint relating to the social behavior of whites, and become familiar with the ongoing battle between the enslaved and the slaveholders.
In order to maintain the institutions of slavery, leaders of the state had to ensure that the enslaved were not helped to overturn the institution in no way; therefore, laws and customs were first formed to prevent the premature end of slavery by members of the slaveholding class-other whites. Other restrictions were directly toward enslaved people and to prevent their intellectual growth, economic activity, and mental mobility. Some restrictions are as follows: enslaved people could not teach others to read, enslaved people were not permitted to sell spirituous liquors, and it was illegal for enslaved people to meet for the purpose of dancing without permission.
In addition, enslaved people were forbidden to hunt with guns. “Anyone who found a slave so hunting might take the gun for his own use and carry the slave to the nearest constable [sheriff or jail], who should act once give the slave twenty lashes on his bare back and the owner should pay the same reward as was paid for taking up a runaway.”
To prevent unimpeded mobility and respond to the threat of slave rebellion, in 1753, slave patrols were established. Patrols were placed to restrict the physical and mental movement of enslaved people.
As patrols became a staple in North Carolina, enslaved people had to account for the presence of patrols in making plans when they wanted to travel without permission from their slaveholders.
Patrols were also giving power to search the slave quarters, seeking out weapons and other forbidden items such as reading materials or stolen items. For example, “in 1779, it [patrols] was required to make a general search once a month and to report to the County Court. Slaves off their master’s plantations on Sunday were to be arrested, unless they had passes or were in the company of a white man.”
Patrols were also in charge of visiting “suspected places, to disperse assemblages of slaves, to be diligent in arresting runaways, to detect thefts, and to report persons who traded with slaves.” For the slave community, patrols made secrecy and memory all the more important.
The effectiveness of patrol varied based on the place and time. Often many white citizens did not want to be force to patrol and neglected their duties when patrol duties fell to their responsibility. One writer noted that he refused to continue to do so after two nights of patrol. “The reason why I refused was this, orders were given to search every negro house for books or prints of any kind, and Bibles and hymn books were particularly mentioned. And should we find any, our orders were to inflict punishment by whipping the slave until he informed who gave them to him, or how they came by them.” [testimony of Mr. Hiram White]
Slaveholders, too, sometimes resented patrols and searches. “Many owners felt that it was a violation of their primacy for patrollers to enter slave quarters on their plantation and search for contraband. Other slaveholders refused to submit to a patroller’s authority to whip their slaves, and for that reason, patrollers were often the target of lawsuits.”
The Risk of patrolling (The North Carolinian September 07, 1850). To see another example of patrol neglect, click here
As theft was the typical problem of the slave institution, slave law forbade slaves from trading without consent of one’s slaveholder to combat theft. Nonetheless, theft and selling were hard to contain, and this is shown by the fact that “between 1826 and 1833 a series of laws enumerated the articles which slaves might not sell without the consent of their masters.”
The need to continue to find ways to prevent enslaved persons from selling and trading shows that enslaved people did not find it difficult to find ways to trade despite the law. Moreover, trade between enslaved persons and the whites was never restrained.
Click here to read more about the slave and free black codes: North Carolina. Slaves and Free Persons of Color. An Act Concerning Slaves and Free Persons of Color
Despite the law, true control of the enslaved rested on violence, the threat of violence, and punishment. The law could only do as much, as there were persons to enforce the law, and this tended to not be as useful, as the laws were often customarily enforced.
Laws were ambiguous and discretionary, and enforcement was often according to local customs and user advantages. In fact, the inconsistency of enforcement is best understood when thinking through the lens of who gained the advantage. Laws were either enforced or not enforced depending on advantage. If advantage could be gained from ignoring the law, then it was ignored. If advantage could be gained by enforcing the law, then it was enforced.
Although the right to hunt with guns was against the law, it was common to find slaves hunting with guns. In fact, some “by the book” slaveholders such as William Lockhart petitioned the court for Reuven, an enslaved man, to carry a gun of his plantation—see petition here Petition
The law and its enforcement of the laws was not only carried out by citizens, citizens on patrol duties, but also by citizens who worked as sheriffs. Like patrols, the office of sheriff began in colonial North Carolina. The sheriff had a number of duties. In regard to slavery, sheriffs served as jail keepers, and their responsibilities included watching over runaways or enslaved people held to prevent their running away or serve as punishment for another crime. Sheriffs also had the job of raising troops to stop slave insurrections and detaining slaves for debt. If the debt remained unpaid, they had duties to sell slaves in a public auction. They also had to list notices in local towns and newspapers about captured runaways and sell unclaimed enslaved persons in public auctions.