C. The Stealing of Slaves.
Slaves were constantly stolen by individuals and organizations of professional slave thieves. This was one of the most difficult problems of slave government, and demanded very rigid laws for its regulation. By act of 1799, a person stealing a slave, a free negro, or mulatto, for his own use or to sell was guilty of a felony and suffered death without benefit of clergy.[108] The penalty for this offence in 1835 was reduced to not less than three nor more than ten years in the penitentiary.[109] The penalty was the same for harboring a slave with intent to steal him, or for persuading a slave to leave his master.[110]
The following advertisement from a religious magazine shows how society was aroused at times on the stealing of slaves and how it proposed to recover them:
A more heart-rending act of villainy has rarely been committed than the following: on Monday, the 30th of May last, three children, viz., Elizabeth, ten years of age, Martha, eight, and a small boy, name forgotten, all bright mulattoes, were violently taken from the arms of their mother, Elizabeth Price, a free woman of color, living in Fayette County, Tennessee. Strong suspicion rests upon two men, gone from thence to the state of Missouri; and it is ardently hoped that the citizens of that state will interest themselves in the apprehension of the robbers and the restoration of the children. A handsome subscription has been raised in the neighborhood to reward any person who may restore them. Editors of papers, and especially such as are in and contiguous to the state of Missouri, are requested to give the above an insertion.[111]
One of the greatest organizations in the South for the stealing of negroes had its headquarters in West Tennessee and was managed by John A. Murrell. This organization consisted of 450 persons and operated throughout the Mississippi Valley. This organization was in collusion with slaves. It stole the same slaves repeatedly and sold them sometimes to their own masters. Murrell’s last stealing was two slaves from Rev. John Hennig, of Madison County, Tennessee. He was caught in 1835, tried, convicted, and sentenced for the maximum term of ten years in the state penitentiary.[112]
D. Trading With Slaves.
The foundation for the regulation of traffic with slaves was laid by the acts of 1741 and 1787, passed by the Colony and State of North Carolina.[113] In 1799, all traffic with slaves was forbidden unless they had a permit from their masters, designating time and place of the proposed transaction.[114] It was a ten dollar fine to be convicted of violating this regulation. If a slave forged a pass as a basis for such a transaction, he was corporally punished at the discretion of a justice of the peace. Trading with slaves was made a more serious matter in 1803.[115] The pass by this act was required to specify the articles to be traded. Any one violating it was punishable by a fine of not less than ten nor more than fifty dollars. In 1806, it was made unlawful for a white person, free negro, or mulatto to be found in the company of a slave for any purpose without the consent of the owner.[116] In 1813, the restrictions on trading with slaves were made more lenient. The fine for trading in violation of the law was reduced to not less than five nor more than ten dollars and slaves might trade articles of their own make without passes from their masters.[117]
The liquor traffic was the most difficult part of trading with slaves to regulate. The North Carolina code left whiskey in the same category with other articles, but in 1813 Tennessee made it punishable by a fine of not less than five nor more than ten dollars to sell it to slaves.[118] If a person was convicted of violating this regulation and could not pay his fine, he went to jail until he could pay it with cost. By act of 1829, a slave was given from three to ten lashes for having whiskey in his possession and from five to ten for selling it to another slave.[119] Any merchant, tavern-keeper, distiller, or any other person, who sold whiskey to a slave without permit from his master, was guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on being convicted, was subject to a fine of fifty dollars.[120]
The laws regulating this traffic became increasingly strict. By act of 1832, a dealer in order to secure a license to sell whiskey was required to take an oath not to sell a slave unless he had a written permit from his master.[121] Clerks in liquor houses, not considering themselves dealers, continued to sell whiskey to slaves; so in 1846, the oath was modified to include sales within the knowledge of the person receiving the license.[122] In 1842, the punishment for selling whiskey to slaves or letting a free negro be intoxicated on one’s premises was made imprisonment for a period of not exceeding thirty days.[123]