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Sometimes Indians sold other members of their own tribe to whites as a punishment for some grievous offense. Families sold some of their own members into temporary servitude to obtain money or other necessities, or an individual Indian offered himself or his children as security for loans, and on failure to meet the obligations, became the slaves of the creditors. The treachery of the whites in refusing to give up the Indians at the expiration of the specified term of service,and the selling them out of the country, caused considerable disturbances among the the Indians in several colonies. Tuscarorans believed that their children who had been bound out for a limited time in English families were being transported to other plantations and sold as slaves.
When the Tuscarora rebelled against this possibility and also being driven from their NC land by the colonists,they were met by a force of thirty English settlers and 500 Yamasee warriors, led by Col. John Barnwell. Even after King Hancock of the Tuscarora signed a treaty, Barnwell and his men seized a number of Tuscarora as slaves. The Tuscarora considered this a breach of the treaty and reinitiated the war. In 1713 another group of settlers and 1,000 Indian allies including 200 Cherokee, led by Col James Moore, veteran of the Shawnee slaving raids in Florida routed the Tuscarora, thousands of Tuscarora captured were sold as slaves to work on Carolina plantations or deported to the West Indies. The proceeds from the sales were deposited in the colonial treasury. The Journals of the NC Council for June 25, 1713 show negotiations between acting Governor Pollock and the Council for the purchase of a number of Indians for shipment to the West Indies. It was sometimes a problem to provide for the captured Indians, that same year the Assembly chartered a private sioop to carry away captives brought to them by friendly Indians. When the Cherokee formed an Alliance with the French against the British in The French and Indian War in an exchange for proctection from their traditional enemies, the Iroquois and the Muskogee, and the English colonials, NC in the provisions made in 1760 for raising troops against them ( Cherokee ) offered to anyone who took captive ” any enemy Indian ” the right to hold them as a slave, if such an Indian should be killed, the captor was to secure a reward from the public treasury. This amount was probably less than the regular price of such slaves, for if the amount were equal to the full value, the captor would have been tempted to kill the captive, avoiding the trouble of keeping him.
Native American peoples throughout the South were played one against another in slave dealing that decimated entire peoples; during the latter half of the 17’th century , Carolina was more active than any other colony in the exportation of Indian slaves. The Carolinians formed alliances with coastal native groups, armed them and encouraged them to make war on weaker tribes deeper in the Carolina interior. By the late years of the17’th century, caravans of Indian slaves were making their way from the Carolina back country to forts on the coast just as caravans of African slaves were doing on the African continent. By 1708, the number of Indian slaves was nearly half that of African slaves.
NC in 1715 passed an Act forbidding the marriage of Whites with Negroes, Mulattoes, or Indians, under penalty of a fine, and making any clergyman performing such a marriage also subject to a fine. A later Act of 1741 provided a fine for the marriage of any White man or woman with an Indian, Negro, Mulatto, or any person of mixed blood to the third generation bond or free. Any minister or justice of the peace performing such a service was punishable by a fine.
TO BE CONTINUED
Connie,
Thank you! I’m going to re-read this when I get home. This is very good info.
Saponi 1,
Thank you for giving Connie that link. I’m going to take a look at that too.
🙂 🙂 🙂 Love & Light, Lynella.
Saponi 1,
Thank you a bunch for this link. There is a lot of interesting tidbits in there that could be helpful. THANKS:D Lynella.
Saponi 1,
😉 Yep! I see that now! Vance pointed it out too. I knew it was probably a dumb question!:p The darndest things befuddle me sometimes! I really was not born blonde or anything, honest! Although I do bleach the front now so I have an excuse! That is really awfull of me.:o I appaulogize to anyone who may be offended by that. You please feel free to tell me off. I deserve it! Thank you Saponi 1 for keeping an eye on me! It’s a great thing and I appreciate it. Love & Light, Lynella.:)
Saponi 1,
Oh man, that’s great! I’m going to have to mess with it some more. I printed a bunch of stuff and went through so many names I really was crosseyed. I’ve got a whole file folder full of stuff off there. Saturday I’ll be able to get on there again. I’m looking foreward to really digging around in there the way you have. This is so awsome! THANK YOU AND BLESS YOU.:) 🙂 🙂 Love & Light, Lynella.
A part of the universal law of slavery in the southern colonies was that a slave should not be allowed to testify against a white person in the courts. S.C. by The Acts of 1712, 1722, & 1735 permitted blacks & other slaves to testify in the trial of any slave accused of specified crimes and offenses. N.C. declared that all blacks, mulattoes bond and free to the third generation, and Indian servants and slaves, shall be deemed to be taken as persons incapable in law to be witnesses in any case whatever
except against each other.
Virginia,1705, decreed that Blacks,Mulattoes, and Indian servants
and others not being Christians, shall be deemed and taken to be
persons incapable in law to be witnesses in any case whatsoever.
The Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century Chp2, Pg 130
says of the Indian slaves of Virginia The regulations established for the management of such slaves were pratically the same as those in operation for the control of Africans.They were brought within the scope of every measure adopted for the protection of the Negro slaves, and morally as well as materially stood precisely
upon the same footing in the view of the law.
McCrady , Slavery in the Province of South Carolina, in Annual Report of the American Historical Association for 1895 states : In SC from 1690 onward, all Acts concerning slaves apply to Indians as well as Negroes.In 1732, Virginia decreed that the evidence of any Negro or Indian slave might be recieved in the trial of any slave but was not valid in the trial of any other person.
I was wondering if anyone was familiar with the case of Rachal Findley (indian slave) against John Draper for her freedom. I’m reading about it in Free People of Color compiled by Mary B Kegley. It is one of the major lawsuits filed in southwestern Va concerning the freedom of indians. Indian slavery was illegal in Va after 1705 but it didn’t stop. This case was important because, when Rachal filed for her freedom, she had about 40 descendents who also would have been declared free. The rules of human bondage are often convoluted and confusing but always interesting.
Connie,
Thank you for starting this thread and keeping up with it. I am finding this very interesting, in deed. I’ve begun looking into some of it and yes, just what little bit I’ve found so far. There were many Indian slaves, and I had never even imagined. I’ve been picking up bits and pieces of some of the court issues between slaves and the folks who “owned” them. Man, I hate that term! Thank you again! Love & Light, Lynella.
Dreaminghawk,
Rachel Findley and John Draper sounds familiar. I think I may have come across it but haven’t read up on it yet. Ah-h-h-h! This subject gets me all rialled up! I want to know all about this!:) Thank you. Love & Light, Lynella.
Hi Dreaminghawk,
I thank you and Saponi 1 for such valuable documentation, It makes one wonder how many Indian families were enslaved on plantations in NC by slaveholders who migrated from VA. to NC. and how many Indian families were enslaved by the Camerons. My understanding is that the majority of Stagville slaves did not come from Africa. Thanks again
Hello all,
I would like to introduce myself in the forum. I am Shoshone. My maternal family hails from Anson county North Carolina. I with the help of a genealologist traced my earliest ancestor back to Henry Bennett. Who was classified as a mullatto along with several of his children. My mother said oral history and certain family members passed down how they were decendant of Indian families who had mixed with mullatto black people. Henry Bennett was born around 1810 and may have married a freed slave woman or mixed race black woman by the name of Chaney. I believe Henry who was my great, great, great great grandfather was decendant of one of the Bennetts that was listed as one of the Chowan indians on early gates country records. Records indicated that some of the remaining indians intermingled with mulatto free blacks because they were listed on the records as free other on early 1800 census records. Some even petitioned for the original lands that they had sold which was also recorded:
Library.uncg.edu Petition Analysis Record #11279002 – location: Gates County, North Carolina year: 1790
“The petitioners request the legislature to pass a law validating acquisition of land by a group of descendants of Indians and blacks. In 1724 the Chowan Indians recieved 11,360 acres of land in Chowan County, later Gates County. The Indians sold most of the land. The men all died, and the women mixed with negroes. The free blacks and their mixed-blood children served as soldiers for the colonials in the Revolution. Supported by William Lewis, Samuel Harrell, and other white men, they seek title to small remnants of the aforesaid tract of land.”
This petition follows a pattern common among those from people attempting to acquire land set aside for Indians. Though it is obvious that the Indians still reside on the land, they infer that the remnant families have more black than Indian blood, and so, obviously do not deserve to retain title to Indian lands. This petition does go a little overboard, however, by stating that by some mysterious circumstance, all the Indian men suddenly died, and that the remaining women all mixed with negroes. Isn’t it funny how they tried to make it appear they were trying to help these people by giving them title to a small piece of the land, and releasing the rest for them to grab up?
The families subject to this petition wre listed as “Other free people” in 1790 Gates Co. NC including: Abraham Reed, Benjamin Reed, Elisha Parker, George Bennett, Hardy Robbins, Hardy Reed, James Robbins, Joseph Bennett, John Cuff, Jane Reed, James Weaver, James Boon, Micajah Reed, Muney Mitchell, Rachel Reed, Seabrook Hunter, William Hunter, William Taylor, and William Jenkins.
Library.uncg.edu Petition Analysis Record #11279002 – location: Gates County, North Carolina year: 1790
If there are any other Bennett decendants who are on the forum I would like to hear from you. I further had Dna testing done wich confirmed that I had at least 4-6 percent Native American DNA. I also had 13-17 Percent European DNA and the rest being african. This corresponds with the Oral history in my family. My mother will be tested to double confirm this. If any members are interested in being tested you may e-mail me.
Shoshone
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