A SKETCH OF THE LAWS RELATING TO SLAVERY IN THE SEVERAL STATES OF THE UNITED Second Edition, WITH SOME ALTERATIONS AND CONSIDERABLE ADDITIONS. BY GEORGE M. STROUD. PHILADELPHIA: HENRY LONGSTRETH, 347 MARKET ST. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by GEORGE M. STROUD, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON AND CO. PRINTED BY HENRY B ASHMEAD, PREFACE. THE state of slavery in this country, so far as it can be ascertained from the laws of the several independent sovereignties which belong to our confederacy, is the subject of the following sheets. This comprises a particular examination of the laws of the states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Missouri. With respect to the remaining states, slavery in some having been abolished and in others never tolerated, a cursory notice of a few of their laws, chiefly important for the evidence which they furnish of the right of these states to the appellation of non-slave-holding, is all which the title or object of this work requires. The District of Columbia, though in this connection not properly denominated a state, yet, from its important character in being exclusively within the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, deserves an equal share of attention. It happens, however, that this District, in regard to slavery as well as many other topics, is not regulated integrally by a code of laws enacted for the purpose by Congress, that body having, by an act dated February 27th, 1801, declared that the part of the District of Columbia which had been ceded to the United States by the state of Virginia should be governed by the laws which were then in force in Virginia, and that the other part, which had been ceded by the state of Maryland, should in like manner be governed by the laws then in force in Maryland. But few alterations have been made in the laws affecting the condition of slaves in either of the states just named since the date of the act of Congress; the quotations, therefore, given from their respective codes, being applied in conformity with the distinction established by the act of Congress, may, with but little hazard of error, ceived as the laws of the District of Columbia. be re Such provisions of the Constitution of the United States as might be fitly introduced into this sketch have been added in an Appendix. Several acts of Congress will be found inserted there also. These, however, are not numerous, since, from the peculiar relation which subsists between the Federal Government and the individual states, the former, except 3 within the District of Columbia and the territories not yet incorporated into the Union as states, is restrained from the exercise of legislative functions on all subjects of a character exclusively municipal. The value of a work like the present must depend mainly upon the authenticity of its materials. On this point but little, if any, exception can be justly taken. The most approved code of each state was sought for, and, in most instances, obtained. The laws of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Missouri, have been cited, from publications made under the express sanction of the several legislatures of these states. The laws of South Carolina have been drawn principally from a source entitled to equal consideration. I mean the Digest by Judge Brevard. This, however, having been issued from the press in 1814, it became necessary to procure a work which would indicate the changes effected by the legislature since that period. The second edition of James' Digest has been used for this purpose; and, though the first edition of this work is stated in Griffith's Law Register to have been imperfectly executed and not to deserve much reliance, yet, a second one having been called for, it seems fair to presume that in this the errors of the first have been corrected and its defects supplied. Having been under the necessity of bringing together the laws of so large a number of independent states, it must be obvious that considerable difficulty existed in assigning to each part its proper place and giving to each its due effect, and, at the same time, preserving the appearance of symmetry in the whole. As the best method of meeting this difficulty, when the provisions of different codes on the same point were in the same language, or, as was most commonly the case, the same in substance but not in language, I have in general used a transcript from one code, and, having noted in immediate connection the work from which it was taken, have added successively references to the other codes. The words "similar," and "nearly similar," are sometimes interposed, the purpose of which needs no explanation. The titles of the different Digests being cited seemed to me to render a perpetual repetition of the names of the states unnecessary. In many occasions, therefore, these are omitted. That the comments which I have offered on many of the laws might be the more readily understood, and their propriety judged of, I have, in almost every quotation which has been made, given the exact words of the law, omitting such only as were not essential to the perception of the legislative intent. Of the actual condition of slaves this sketch does not profess to treat. In representative republics, however, like the United States, where the popular voice so greatly influences all political concerns, where the members of the legislative departments are dependent for their places upon annual elections, the laws may be safely regarded as constituting a faithful exposition of the sentiments of the people, and as furnishing, therefore, strong evidence of the practical enjoyments and privations of those whom they are designed to govern. To the condition of the passive members of the community, such as slaves, this latter deduction is emphatically applicable. I speak of the case of slaves generally. Their condition will, no doubt, in a great degree, take its complexion from the peculiar disposition of their respective masters,-a consideration which operates as much against as in favour of the slave; for it cannot be denied that there are many persons but little controlled by feelings of humanity, and less restrained by the precepts of religion,-many who, "feeling power, forget right." The very existence of slavery is calculated to produce the worst effects on the temper and morals of the masters. On this point, and, indeed, on the general treatment of slaves by their masters, the most decisive testimony is borne by MR. JEFFERSON, in his Notes on Virginia. "The whole commerce between master and slave," says he, "is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part and degrading submissions on the other. Our children see this, and learn to imitate it; for man is an imitative animal. If a parent had no other motive, either in his own philanthropy or his self-love, for restraining the intemperance of passion towards his slave, it should always be a sufficient one that his child is present. But generally it is not sufficient. The parent storms, the child looks on, catches the lineaments of wrath, puts on the same airs in the circle of smaller slaves, gives a loose to his worst passions, AND, THUS NURSED, EDUCATED, AND DAILY EXERCISED IN TYRANNY, CANNOT BUT BE STAMPED BY IT WITH ODIOUS PECULIARITIES." PHILADELPHIA, October 8th, 1827. |