Killing a slave was not legally murder in early South Carolina

Evidence

Whipping slaves was an everyday matter. The master and mistress had the power, and they used it. Even killing a slave was sometimes treated lightly. In 1806 John Slater, a ship captain in South Carolina, in a fit of anger, had his slave Abe tied up and then beheaded (by another slave, at Slater’s orders). Abe’s body was thrown in Charleston harbor. Slater was put on trial. His punishment: a fine. South Carolina law at the time did not treat killing a slave as murder, and the punishment, if there was any, was a fine. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1353

Categorization

• XREF: Directly illustrates the ch1 claim that legal fictions classified slaves as real estate — a fine, not a murder charge, follows beheading an alleged ‘property’ killing. — connects to: Rape of black women was not a crime under slavery law — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 108; Early Virginia law ruled that slave conversion did not grant freedom; North American plantation slavery was maintained by force and property, not cultural hegemony — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 2082 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Rape of black women was not a crime under slavery law #expands (0.80) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 108
• North American plantation slavery was maintained by force and property, not cultural hegemony #corroborates (0.78) — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 2082
• Early Virginia law ruled that slave conversion did not grant freedom #exemplifies (0.75)
• Slave plantation violence was rationally calculated, not racist impulse #corroborates (0.75) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 578
• American slavery law was invented locally, not inherited from English law #corroborates (0.72) — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law, 203