Beschreibung:

Title: Legal manuscript document about "slave stealing” in colonial North Carolina Author: Place: North Carolina Publisher: Date: 1774 Description: John Collson. “The King against Jas. Wishart”. Colonial-era legal Manuscript Document Signed as official of Salisbury Court, Anson County, North Carolina,November 12, 1774. 2pp. 6 x 7.25". “…David Smith… made oath that…Wishart came to his house and with force did fraudentaly take and cary away a Negroe Boy Named James the property of…Smith greatly to his damage and agt the peace of his sovn lord the king his Crown and Dignity…” An order of arrest for both Smith and the slave, signed also by the law enforcement officer who made the arrests. Decades later, after American Independence, during the years leading up to Civil War, “slave stealing” generally referred to zealous abolitionists who helped southern slaves escape from their masters to the north and freedom. But in this case, adjudicated two years before “the shot heard round the world”, the crime might literally have been "property" theft, as if the accused had stolen a cow. Ironically, the judge in this case – a wealthy businessman and land-owner – soon proved to be a steadfast Tory, a British Loyalist whose property was confiscated by the revolutionary government. Coolson fled with British troops to South Carolina and, from there apparently emigrated to England, never to return. Lot Amendments Condition: Very good. Item number: 271722