- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 27/Jul 14:53

The Tobago Slave Court

DR RITA PEMBERTON According to the administrators of Tobago in 1811, the island’s enslaved population had become more “civilised and their minds so much improved as to render a need to establish new regulations for their government and the amelioration of their condition.” This assertion, suggestive of a change in the ruling class’s approach to the enslaved population, prompted a new set of laws and an accompanying court to administer enslavement on the island. The Slave Court, as it was called, was established at public expense and declared a court of record with the power of a court of common plea. Made up of the Chief Justice and two puisne judges, it was to try capital offences committed by the enslaved. It sat on the first Tuesday in March and September at the Scarborough courthouse. The court was empowered to select people to serve as jurors from among freeholders, merchants, tradesmen, managers or chief overseers, and a penalty of £20 was imposed on justices and freeholders who declined to participate. The prosecutor was remunerated with £10 16 shillings. Accused people were summoned four days before the date of trial and were kept in the common prison until then. A unanimous verdict was required from the jurors. In its aims and structure, there was no attempt to disguise the motive, which was no different from those of the previous slave laws. The law began by restating the existing boundaries between the enslaved and their white masters and the restrictions inflicted on the enslaved, with the clear intent to protect the ruling class from the activities expected of the enslaved population and any threat to the plantation system that they sought to avoid. This was revealed in some of the offences with which the enslaved would be charged in this new court. All enslaved people and their accomplices found guilty of murder, treason. rape, maiming or wounding or planning the death of a white or free person; maiming or wounding another enslaved person; wilfully setting fire to canefields, provision grounds or other fields, or to dwelling houses, negro houses or other buildings; attempting to poison anyone; robbery, burglary or grand or petty larceny; who maliciously killed or tried to kill by poison or otherwise or maim or destroy any horse, mule, ass or horned cattle; enticed or invited other enslaved people to run off the island; or by common or statute law of England was to suffer death as felons or such other punishment determined appropriate by the court. Any enslaved person found concealing, harbouring or receiving any other who had run away from his owners would have to pay the owner nine shillings a day for each day the runaway was absent from the estate. This, of course, was highly impractical, since enslaved people had very limited opportunities to earn money, and if they did, it would not amount to that much. [caption id="attachment_1168742" align="alignnone" width="255"] Dr Rita Pemberton -[/caption] No enslaved person was allowed to own or carry a musket, pistol or any other weapon without a ticket from his owner – a measure intended to prevent rebellion. The enslaved were allowed, with proper certification from their masters, to shoot game, but if caught seeking to escape with firearms, they were to be punished. Free people who sold firearms, cutlasses or any weapons, excluding agricultural implements, to enslaved people could be charged up to £50. No enslaved person might carry a cutlass or other sharp-edged weapon unless in pursuit of a runaway and either working under the order and direction of a free person or attending his owner. Those who apprehended runaways were paid 18 shillings. The enslaved people of Tobago were not allowed to engage in gambling, cockfighting and playing cards. Free coloured people in Scarborough and Plymouth were mandated to prevent the enslaved from dancing on their premises or face a penalty of up to £15. Nor were they to allow them to hold what were called “noisy gatherings” on the streets at night. Any enslaved person found in the town after 9 pm without a letter of authorisation from his master would be committed to prison until the following morning. Enslaved people who fell ill in prison would receive medical aid, and owners were required to pay two shillings per day for feeding the enslaved. Sitting justices were required to inspect the prison periodically and report any irregularities. The evidence of the enslaved was admitted in the trials of those charged with non-capital issues. Jurors were allowed to entertain complaints from enslaved people about ill treatment, and members of council were declared Guardians of the Slaves regarding violations of the clothing and maintenance provisions of the act. Owners of enslaved people were to provide sufficient food, including provision and daily or weekly amounts of salted or pickled fish, and an annual clothing allowance. Anyone who killed enslaved people to prevent them from revealing information would be guilty of murder, but the punishment would not include the death sentence or loss of their property, revealing the different value placed on the lives of white and black people. Whipping enslaved people deemed deserving of punishment by their owners or managers was restricted to 20 strokes. Punishment over 12 strokes was to be inflicted in the presence of a white or free person other than the one ordering the punishment. In the case of cruelty or injury to the enslaved by white or free people, evidence other than that of a white or free person was allowable; if someone murdered an enslaved person, the evidence of enslaved people could be procured where there was no evidence from white or free people. All enslaved people were entitled to the benefit of instruction from the clergy, as allowed by the laws of Tobago and Britain. This was a departure from the traditional planter position – opposition to what was seen as “interference” by the religious bodies. The Sunday market was abolished: from September 1, Thursday was market day in the towns of Scarborough and Plymouth. From May 1-December 31, all enslaved people on plantations were allowed one day each week for cultivating provision grounds; from January 1-May 1, this was at the discretion of the planter, who determined the use of his labour force. Restrictions aside, the law gave the enslaved freedom to enjoy their property, but few owned anything of value. The fact is that the enslaved population was forced to endure restrictions even over their own bodies, and the freedom they sought remained a dream. In fact, some regulations disallowed activities they cherished. The establishment and regulations of this court should be considered in the context of developments of the period. Firstly, the movement against slavery was gathering momentum in England, and the colonies where opposition to this movement was strongest tried to nullify the anti-slavery arguments and give the appearance of reform. Secondly, the intensified resistance movement of the enslaved population across the region raised security concerns and stimulated attempts by local authorities to reduce opportunities for revolt by force and other methods, including preventing gatherings of enslaved people outside working hours, and using the clergy to dissuade rebellion. Thirdly, the termination of the British slave trade led to intercolonial trade to the larger and wealthier Caribbean islands from the smaller and poorer colonies. Planters there feared this practice and took pains to prevent it. The Tobago law that the act of any free person who tried to take an enslaved person off the island was punishable by death is a representation of this fear of depletion of their limited labour resources. The law which established the Tobago Slave Court was ultimately passed on July 23, 1823 and proclaimed on August 2, 1823. It was intended to be a palliative measure in reaction to the forces of change which were gathering strength in the first third of the 19th century.   The post The Tobago Slave Court appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.