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Crime-Week5.pptxRoots of Southern Violence
HIST/PA/SOC 349
Southern Uniqueness
The South was among the most violent regions of the country for much of American history
Murder rates were highest in the 17th century, but they remained above national averages through the 19th
Southerners evinced a high toleration for violence and for vigilantism
South was slower than other regions of the country to develop prisons
What is the South?
South was a region defined by slavery in the early part of the nineteenth century
Slavery had been a national institution prior to the American Revolution
Many Northern states dispensed with it in the aftermath of independence
Southern states, which were economically dependent on slave labor for the production of tobacco, rice, and (by 1820) cotton, retained the institution
Explanations for Southern Violence
Prevalence of Honor Culture
Violence to one’s reputation was, in a sense, indistinguishable from physical violence
Sleights against reputation had to be defended
Discouraged use of courts and instead emphasized displays of masculinity and courage through physical violence
Explanations for Southern Violence
Southern agrarian economy did not require “dignity” in the same way that the Northern industrial capitalist economy did
South had unique patterns of settlement
South was settled by Scots-Irish people
Herders rather than farmers in old country
Absence of social fixedness made them more likely to resort to vigilantism instead of law
Transmitted this culture to America
Explanations for Southern Violence
Presence of slavery
Violence was necessary to maintain the system of slavery
Enslaved people were brutally punished if they ran away, shirked work, or committed minor offenses
Enslaved people were also encouraged to work through systematic torture
Killing of enslaved people was largely tolerated
“When a new hand, one unaccustomed to the business, is sent for the first time into the field, he is whipped up smartly, and made for that day to pick as fast as he can possibly. At night it is weighed, so that his capability in cotton picking is known. He must bring in the same weight each night following. If it falls short, it is considered that he has been laggard, and a greater or less number of lashes is the penalty. An ordinary day's work is two hundred pounds. A slave who is accustomed to picking, is punished, if he or she brings in a less quantity than that.”
-Solomon Northup
Effects of Slavery on Southern Violence
Slavery created constant tensions between black and white Southerners
Racism, paranoia, and a desire to control black labor on the part of white Southerners increased violence against enslaved and free black Southerners alike
Black Southerners’s desire for freedom and resentment of their oppression prompted some to commit acts of violence against white Southerners
1800: Gabriel attempts to lead an insurrectionary force into Richmond to fight for the freedom of enslaved people
1822: Denmark Vesey, a free black man, allegedly organizes a slave uprising in Charleston, SC
1831: Nat Turner, an enslaved preacher in Southampton County, VA gets a band of enslaved people together and kills at least 50-60 white people
Effects of Slavery on Southern Violence
Slavery bred tyrannical impulses and desire for absolute authority
Slavery weakened the Southern criminal court system by removing so many people from the dominion of criminal law
Weak criminal courts promoted vigilantism
Slavery limited economic opportunities available to poor whites and free blacks alike
Without legitimate means of advancement, people turned to violence and to crime
Explanations for Southern Violence
“Various fatal flaws in Southern culture: a brooding and pervasive sense of grievance and displaced frustration, an undue affection for guns, and a pessimistic evaluation of human nature that automatically assumed violence to the be the inevitable—if unfortunate—recourse in the face of intractable problems.”
-Edward Ayers
The Modern South
The Modern South
State peace index, based on the homicide rate, violent crime rate, incarceration rate, police presence, and availability of small arms.
Prosecution, Policing, and Punishment in the Antebellum South
HIST/PA/SOC 349
Cannibalism!
Baltimore Sun, August 28, 1849.
The following slides show police briefs – cannibalism – as a result of fighting.
Cannibalism!
Baltimore Sun, January 2, 1852.
Cannibalism!
Baltimore Sun, May 17, 1844
Maryland Penitentiary Records
Look at the ”Marks” section - ”wants” means missing. How do you think this prisoners were maimed?
Criminal Courts
In many Southern states, particularly prior to the 1840s, there were two distinct court systems:
Circuit courts handled cases involving white defendants
Most case heard involved violent crime, but convictions for violent offenses were rare
Courts of Oyer and Terminer handled cases of enslaved and free black defendants
Typically did not provide for jury trials
Sometimes did not allow for any representation for the accused
Goals of Criminal Courts
When it came to prosecuting enslaved people, Southern courts tried to preserve and reinforce the system of slavery
This meant protecting white supremacy and the authority of slave-owners to do as they wished with their enslaved property
Sometimes, however, courts struggled with how best to defend the institution of slavery and how to balance the property rights of individual slave-owners with the welfare of the larger system of slavery
“Double Character”
Slaves were legally property, not people
Supreme Court of Alabama ruled that a slave “has no legal mind, no will which the law can recognize."
And yet, property cannot commit crimes
Slavery thus had a “double character” under the law
Slaves were property in civil cases and people in criminal ones
Criminal courts thus, out of necessity, had to recognize the humanity of slaves
Complication: Murder of overseer
Larger plantations often had white overseers whose job it was “discipline” enslaved people and ensure that they worked efficiently
Because overseers were responsible for whipping enslaved people, they were popular targets for violence
What happened if an enslaved person killed his or her overseer?
Complication: Murder of overseer
On on hand, an enslaved person killing an overseer was a crime and a severe violation of both the plantation hierarchy and the broader social order of the South
On the other hand, overseers were easily replaced; slave-owners had an interest in preserving their enslaved property
Some slave-owners actively hindered investigations into overseers’ deaths in order to avoid losing their slaves
Rights of Slave-owners
Enslavers were generally given rights that bordered on absolute over their enslaved people’s bodies
It was illegal to murder a slave willfully in most states, but few white people were convicted of this.
In South Carolina, where most cases involving the murder of slaves were dismissed before they went to trial, the conviction rate was still only 36%
Slave-owners also had the legal right to force enslaved women into sex
This was not legally regarded as rape
Northern abolitionist criticized this aspect of slavery strongly
The Celia Case
In 1855 Missouri, an enslaved woman named Celia hit her enslaver, Robert Newsome, over the head with a stick as he tried to sexually assault her.
Newsome was killed; Celia burnt his body
Celia was charged with murder, but she was allowed legal representation and a jury trial (this became more common in Southern states after the 1840s)
Made the argument that she killed Newsome in self-defense.
Defense did not work, but trial demonstrates conflicting ends of legal system
Important to remember – at this time slaves considered property. So the fact that she was given legal representation and a trial is contradictory to that argument.
Southern policing
In large part because of fears of slave revolt, Southern states developed police forces early
In cities and towns, these were organized militias that enforced curfew
In rural areas, these were slave patrols composed of white citizens who rode around checking enslaved people for passes and tracking runaways
Slave Patrols
Slave patrols were intended to protect the public order and to preserve property rights
Slave-owners often disliked them, though
Felt they were a challenge to their authority
Sometimes colluded with enslaved people to allude the patrols or undermine them
Shows tension between preserving order in a slave system and respecting absolute property rights
Penal Reform
Southern states less enthusiastic about prisons and penal reform than the Northern states were
South and North Carolina did not build penitentiaries
Southerners continued to believe in the efficacy of public, corporal punishments
Southern jails often resembled the older model of jail with fee systems and poor conditions
Fee Schedule in the Richmond Jail
Enslaved Person: 20-25 cents per day
White Person: 30 cents per day
Free Black Person: 43 cents per day
Inmates charged 5 cents for each shackling/unshackling
