Page "James Monroe" Paragraph 58

On October 15, 1799, as some slave traders tried to transport a group of slaves from Southampton to Georgia, the slaves revolted and killed the traders.

According to Scheer's article on the subject, a nearby slave patrol responded and killed ten slaves on the spot in extrajudicial killings without the benefit of trial.

Of the initial group, the patrol took five slaves alive.

They were tried in an oyer and terminer court without the benefit of a jury, and four were convicted.

( The fifth pleaded benefit of clergy and was flogged and branded ).

Governor Monroe postponed the slaves ' executions to check their identities ; he granted a pardon to one, and allowed two to hang.

The fourth died in jail from exposure to the cold.

Scheer says that Monroe " help secure a modicum of civil protection for slaves sentenced to death for capital crimes.