Harsh deterrence failed to stop repeated slave conspiracy plots in Virginia

Evidence

We shall never know what this man said to his accusers, his reasons or his achievements. We do know that Sam was ordered to be whipped around the town and fitted with an iron collar with four spriggs that he was to wear until his death. It was hoped that this would “deter him & others from the like evil practice for time to come.” Just how effective the General Court’s punishment was can perhaps be judged by the fact that in the counties of Surrey, Isle of Wight, James City, Middlesex, and Gloucester, several plots involving first Indian and Blacks, and then Blacks separately were reported discovered in 1709, 1722, and 1723. — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 712

Categorization

• XREF: Supports the broader repressive-resistance dialectic; connects to marronage and the ‘skeptical’ archaeology of slave testimony the book later develops.