I have a problem seeing these as "trials" in the typical meaning of the
term. The slave would not be able to call other slaves to witness for the
defendant since they could not honestly pledge to tell the "whole truth and
nothing but the truth" if it was not in the master's interest for the
witnesses to do so. Were there attorneys available to mount a defense for
a slave? Or was it a mock trial? Was justice served, or just the master's will?
Anne
At 09:57 AM 1/7/03 -0500, you wrote:
>I'm not sure what incident you are referring to in regard to Cicley
>Reynolds, but slaves did have the right to trial and there many examples in
>the various county order books. Orange County, for example, documents a case
>where a slave was tried (and convicted) of poisoning her master.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
>[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Reyesuela
>Sent: Monday, January 06, 2003 7:40 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: [VA-HIST] slightly OT: Re: Jefferson nephew chops a Black man
>to pieces
>
>
><shudders> It's amazing what horrible things you can find in a past that
>many (including myself) would like to idealize. I myself was researching
>Cicley Reynolds (her first name is spelled several different ways on verious
>documents), an ancestress and early settler int he Jamestown area, and aside
>from learning about her four husbands and the first breach of promise suit
>in America, I discovered that she killed a family slave girl for poisoning
>and killing the last of her husbands. Whether or not the accusation was
>true will never be known, because as a slave, the girl never got a trial.
>Nor will it be know what desperation, madness, or hatred could have
>motivated such an act.
>The more I read about the social history of slavery, indentured servitude,
>and/or serfdom in any culture--be it Roman, American, Australian, or
>Russian--the more convinced I am that bound servitude is an instution that
>fosters the very worst and most brutal in men, the served and serving both.
>
>
>
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Anne Pemberton
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http://www.erols.com/stevepem
http://www.educationalsynthesis.org
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