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Laws
Regarding Servants and Slaves
SERVANTS AND SLAVES.
Another point intimately connected with agricultural pursuits, was the
protection of each man's rights in the particular of labor. Slavery existed in
Carolina from the beginning of its settlement. Before the grant to the lords
proprietors, and before the establishment of any organized government, settlers
came from Virginia into Albemarle; and there is reason to believe that the first
African slaves were brought in by them on their migration. Beside these,
however, there were also Indian slaves, who had been made so for crime, or sold,
by some of their own race, as captives taken in war. There was yet a third class
of bondmen: this consisted of whites who had been indentured in England and
brought by their masters into the colony; or of such as had been made
apprentices by the courts of the province; and to this class also belonged all
such as had been kidnapped in England, brought over and sold; and such as, by
act of Parliament, had been transported to the colony for crime and then sold,
for a term of years, to the highest bidder. But of this subject we shall have
occasion to speak more particularly hereafter. It suffices for our present
purpose to say, that, at the period of which we are now writing, all these forms
of servitude existed in the province.
The law that was framed to secure to the master the services of his laborers,
enacted first, as to whites, that all who came under indentures were, of course,
to serve for the time named in the indentures. All imported, not under
indentures (that is, the kidnapped and criminals), if above sixteen years of
age, were required to serve those who bought them for five years. If they were
under sixteen when imported, then they were to remain servants until they
attained the age of twenty-two years; and to determine the age, the master or
mistress was bound, within six months after their importation, to present them
to the precinct court for inspection, and that tribunal decided as to what
should be deemed their age. If they were not thus presented to the court, then
they were to be classed with those over sixteen, no matter what was their real
age, and serve but five years.
If one of this class absented himself from his master's service without
permission, he was bound to serve for double the time thus lost, and as much
longer as the court should see fit to adjudge. The master had also power, under
the law, to administer moderate correction to one of this class; and corporal
punishment was expressly named as the penalty, if a white servant laid violent
hands on his master or mistress, or on an overseer under whom he might be
placed. If the servant was corrected in excess, he or she had the right to make
complaint to the nearest magistrate, who was required thereupon to bind the
master over to the next court to answer therefor, and also to take security from
the master that he would not, in the mean time, abuse or misuse the complaining
servant. The master was also required, during the continuance of the servitude,
to provide for the servant competent diet, clothing, and lodging; and, at its
close, was bound to give him or her three barrels of corn, two new suits of
clothing, and, in the case of a man-servant, a gun also in good order.
If a female white servant became pregnant and gave birth to a child during the
time of her servitude, beside being punished by the law for her lewdness, she
was made to serve her master two additional years, unless the master were
himself the father of her child; in which case, she was not bound to serve the
partner of her crime two additional years; but was to be sold by the
churchwardens for two years after her service expired, and the money was to be
applied for the benefit of the poor; while her innocent offspring was, under any
circumstances, to be bound out by the wardens until it reached the age of
thirty-one years: that is, to be made a slave for about half a lifetime. If a
negro, mulatto, or Indian were the father of the child, then, beside two years
additional servitude to her master, she was subjected to a further penalty, at
the expiration of her service, of six pounds, to be paid to the wardens for the
benefit of the poor.
As to the Indian, mulatto, or negro slave, whose bondage was for life, none
such, except those who waited on the master's person, or wore his livery, could
at any time leave the plantation, unless a white servant of the same master were
with him; or unless he had a written permission, signed by the master, the
mistress, or the overseer, distinctly specifying the place from which he came,
and that to which he had permission to go. Anybody might apprehend a slave found
beyond the limits of his master's plantation, save under the circumstances above
named; nor would even the written permission, or "ticket," as it was called,
avail him, if he carried a gun or any other weapon, unless the document
particularly stated that he carried such weapon by express permission. When a
slave was arrested under this law, he was to be carried immediately before the
next magistrate, who had a discretionary power to inflict on him corporal
punishment. The apprehender was then bound to carry him immediately back to his
master, by whom he was to be paid for his trouble and expenses. If, however, the
master was not known, then he was to deliver the slave to the provost marshal,
who was to advertise him in every precinct, and put him to work, to defray the
expense of his maintenance until his master appeared. In cases of absolute
necessity only, might he put the slave into close confinement.
A master might set any of his slaves free "for honest and faithful service,"
provided the emancipated was "good and orderly;" but the owner was not allowed
to make a contract with any "refractory" negro for his freedom under any
circumstances. If one were set free, he was required to leave the province or
government within six months, under penalty of being sold for five years to
whosoever, at the end of that time, would transport him out of the country. As
to runaways, whether white servants or slaves, whoever harbored them a longer
time than one night, was subjected to a penalty of ten shillings for every
twenty-four hours beyond that time. If a slave ran away, and had been lying out
for two months, and a white man endeavoring to apprehend him, found that he
could not do so without taking the life of the slave; if he did so, the homicide
was not to be deemed murder, provided the person apprehending the slave made
oath that without killing him he could not take him. There was a barbarity in
this enactment which admits of no apology. Happily, the value of the slave's
labor, and, let us hope, the cruelty of the law itself, made it a dead letter.
In the allowance of many claims during this period by the proper authorities,
the records do not show one of any demand ever made on account of a slave killed
in his capture; though the law in such case allowed to the owner a poll-tax on
every tithable slave in the whole government, sufficient to compensate for his
pecuniary loss, as estimated by the court of the precinct.
Sometimes, however, a slave committed a crime for which his life was, by law,
justly forfeited. In such case, a court was constituted, by this statute, for
his fair trial. It was composed of three justices of the precinct court, and
three freeholders, all of whom were required to be also the owners of slaves. By
them a full investigation was made, and the slave had ample opportunity
(assisted by his master or counsel employed by him) of making his defence. The
court had power of passing sentence and awarding execution. To a similar
tribunal it also belonged to try a slave for offences not capital, and to punish
them by dismemberment or other corporal punishment. The records show
dismemberment to have been applied to but one species of crime, that of animal
passion, gratified with brutal violence, at the expense of female helplessness.
Emasculation was the penalty.
White servants might lawfully marry; but no white person, bond or free, was
permitted to intermarry with a negro, mulatto, or Indian, under a heavy penalty;
nor could any clergyman, or other person authorized to marry, perform the
ceremony between such parties, without payment of a heavy fine.
Finally, no one was permitted to trade for any commodity with a servant or
slave, unless he produced the written consent of his master to authorize such
traffic. The law concerning servants and slaves, as here presented, was required
to be publicly read, twice a year, by every clergyman, and when there was no
clergyman, by the clerk of the precinct court.
Entry above from History of North Carolina:
With Maps and Illustrations. Volume: 2. Contributors: Francis L. Hawks -
author. Publisher: E.J. Hale & Son. Place of Publication: Fayetteville, NC.
Publication Year: 1858. (pp 159-162)
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