State

Servants and Slaves In Colonial Carolina In addition to Negroes, there «Iso were In¬ dian and white slaves. There were many rules and regulations in force with respect to their treatment. IT is not generally known that slavery I now happily banished from an enlightened* land» ex¬ isted in North Carolina from the beginning of its settlement by the white man. Prior to the grants to the Lords Proprietors, whose rule extended from 1665 to 1729, set¬ tlers come into the Albemarle sec¬ tion from Virginia. There is every reason to believe that the first slaves of African extraction were brought into North Carolina by these people from Virginia. In ad¬ dition to the Negroes, there also were Indian slaves, who had been placed in bondage because of crime or who had been taken prisoners of war during some of the many battles between whites and In¬ dians. And then, there was still an¬ other class, the members of which, practically speaking, were almost the same as slaves. These were bondsmen. They were whites who had been indentured in the mother country and had been brought by their masters to the colony. They were supplemented by those who had been made apprentices by court order in the colony. To this latter classification belonged also those who had been kidnapped in England, shipped to the colony and sold to the highest bidder. A fourth division was composed of those who had been banished to the colony for crime and then sold for a number of years. During the days of the Lords Proprietors all four forms of servitude were to be found in the colony. length of Servitude All who came in under inden¬ tures were to serve for the time named in the papers. The kid¬ napped and the criminals were rc- Siired to serve those who bought em for a period of five years. If. when they were imported, their age was under sixteen, they were then to remain servants' until twenty-two years of age. In order to determine the age of a person, the master or mistress was required e Ry i-OLTS t. moo hi: within six months after importa¬ tion to bring the bonded person into court. They were then inter¬ viewed and inspected, and the tri¬ bunal determined what their age should be. If not brought to court, it was taken for granted that those in servitude were to be considered over sixteen years of age and were to be forced to serve only five years. If one of the last-mentioned class left his master's service without permission, he was required to serve for double the time which was lost, and as much longer as the court <might deem it advisable to stipulate. Under the law, the master had authority to administer moderate correction to a bonded person. Corporal punishment was manda¬ tory if a white servant attempted to strike his master, mistress or an overseer who might have control over him. If the degree of punish¬ ment was excessive, the servants had a right to appeal to the near¬ est magistrate. The latter was then required to bind the muster over to the next term of court, and also to require bond that the owner in the meantime would neither abuse or misuse the complainant. Proper Treatment Required During the period of servitude, the master was required to give the servant proper diet, lodging and clothing. At the end of the term of service, it was mandatory under the law that the master should give the servant three bar¬ rels of corn, two new suits of cloth¬ ing and — if it were a man-servant a gun in good condition. As regards the Negro or Indian slave, under bondage for life, none except those who waited on the master or wore his livery could leave the plantation unless' accom¬ panied by a white servant belong¬ ing to the same master. Such slaves were permitted to leave, however, if they had a written per¬ mit signed by their owner. This document had to specify the place from which the bearer come and the destination to which he had permission to go. Except under the reservations just outlined, anybody had au¬ thority to capture a slave found beyond the limits of his owner's Clantation. The slave was then to г taken to the nearest magistrate who had discretionary authority to inflict corporal punishment. The person who had arrested the slave was then bound to carry the slave back to the master and had a right to require payment for his expense and trouble. If the owner could not be found or was unknown, then the slave was to be delivered to the provost marshal. The latter had to have the slave advertised in every precinct. A master could set any of his slaves free ‘‘for honest and faithful service.” provided that the eman¬ cipated person was “good and orderly." The owner was not al¬ lowed to release a ‘‘refractory" Negro under any condition. When one u'as set free, it was required that he leave the province u-ithin six months. Otherwise he was to be sold for five years into slavery again. Aiding Runaways Persons who harbored runaways, whether white servants or slaves, for more than one night, were fined ten shillings for every twenty-four hours beyond the first night.' If an absconding slave had been away two months or longer, and a white man. trying to capture him, dis¬ covered that he could not do so without shooting at the slave, such an act was not deemed murder. Sometimes a slave committed a crime for w'hich the law required that his life be forfeited. In such a case, he was granted a fair trial (Continued on page 18) THE STATE. JANUARV 5 1946