Hi Joanne. Thanks for your kind words about my site.

I added an abstract of all mention of slaves in the first will book of 
Halifax County, North Carolina (1758-1774) and started on the book from a 
period closer to the Civil War (1825-1854). I'll complete all the wills in 
the next few weeks, but I can already see that they are the same as those I 
have read from Virginia counties as they relate to slaves.
http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/halifax.htm

Masters typically referred to their slaves as "my wench" or "my negro." It 
was not uncommon for slaves to be sold to pay the debts of the estate. The 
slaveowners certainly do not sound like they are referring to other human 
beings. Regardless of how they were treated, they occupied a very degraded 
position in society. They were property. You cannot occupy a lower position 
than that.

The county court order books also shed some light on the position of slaves 
in Virginia society. Occasionally you come across a master being given 
permission by the court to dismember a slave, "he being a constant runaway," 
or a slave having his head cut off, stuck on a pole and placed at the 
crossroads to deter other slaves from his horrible crime. Or, more commonly, 
a slave tried for a petty crime, found not guilty but given lashes anyway 
because he or she did not behave as the court deemed fit.

The behaviour of whites towards African Americans since the Civil War is a 
direct result of their prior relationships with slaves, whether they were 
slaveowners or not.

Note that North Carolina never passed a law similar to the one Virginia 
passed in 1782 allowing masters to free their slaves. Legislative approval 
"for mertiorious service" was required throughout North Carolina's history, 
and very few masters received approval. (I have noticed one or two 
emancipations in Halifax County wills, but they were not even considered by 
the legislature). I wonder if Virginia's emancipation law of 1782 made a 
difference in how Virginia accepted the Emancipation Proclamation versus a 
state like North Carolina which, for all practical purposes, did not allow 
emancipation.
Paul