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It seems to me that we should review the book for the BASA Newsletter. This is not my area of research, but as I understand it from various books, and the numbers of court cases apparently initiated by Granville Sharp, the law was not very clear about the legality of slavery either in England or in Scotland. Certainly we have in the past been notified about a few parish register entries noting that the person was a slave and if I recall correctly we've also been told of a tombstone for a slave. Marika _____ From: The Black and Asian Studies Association [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kathleen Chater Sent: 11 August 2010 14:56 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Laurens case I had a look on OldBaileyonLine but there's no case involving a Laurens between 1770-75. Which court was he tried in? As readers of my own magnum opus, Untold Histories (MUP) will know, the Mansfield Judgement did not free slaves - they did not have to be freed because, as the Judgment makes clear, the institution did not exist in English law. Mansfield said it was only the creation of 'positive' acts passed by Parliament that could define it. Undoubtedly a lot of masters from the colonies - and most probably the slaves they brought with them - didn't realise that once they arrived they were free in this country. Therefore the burglary was unnecessary - Scipio/Robert Laurens didn't need to take such a potentially risky step. Depending on the value of the goods stolen, he could have been sentenced to death or transported. Most likely, however, he would be returned to his master who would give surety for his good behaviour - this happened to both Black and white people. There's a case in the OB of a Black ex-slave being returned to the family that "owned" him in the Caribbean - almost certainly with his consent as the alternative might have been the death sentence. The family had allowed him to leave the Caribbean and then one of them acted as a character witness at his trial so he may have had a relatively privileged position in their household. Another case has a servant who'd committed a crime being transported/returned to India because his master agreed to send him back to his home. The more I look at this, the odder it seems. I'd be interested in her sources. I take it Flavell is American? Many Americans, even academics, don't seem to grasp how different 18th century England was from 18th century - or even 20th century - America. The idea of Scipio as a "slave name" is a bit 20th century. Although it was often given to Black people in England, it was also occasionally used by white people and had a local popularity in Devon about this time. As to the question about transportees being freed - yes they were in Australia but what happened to them in America is not known. Transportation to the Americas was private enterprise and the transportees (white and black) were sold. The documentation to know what happened to them doesn't seem to exist. However, those who went to Australia went under government arrangements so what happened to them is comparatively well documented. They were freed at the end of the sentences and got a grant of land, whether they were Black or white. Kathy Chater > Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2010 10:22:43 +0100 > From: [log in to unmask] > To: [log in to unmask] > > -----Original Message----- > From: The Black and Asian Studies Association on behalf of Ruth Paley > Sent: Thu 05/08/2010 08:33 > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: > > If the date is correct then it's after the Somerset ruling which was interpreted (wrongly I would argue) as freeing slaves in England. Therefore it would seem unlikely that a slave would seek to escape via a gaol sentence. In fact it might be quite dangerous to do so, since if convicted there would be a risk of transportation and before 1776 the destination would have been America. I have often wondered what happened to black transportees (and there were a few). Did they get their freedom at the end of the sentence or did they slip into real slavery? > > Ruth > ________________________________ > > From: The Black and Asian Studies Association on behalf of Marika Sherwood > Sent: Tue 03/08/2010 17:50 > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: > > > > From a review of > > > > WHEN LONDON WAS CAPITAL OF AMERICA By Julie Flavell, Illustrated. 305 pp. Yale University Press. $32.50 > > > > > > Julie Flavell's "When London Was Capital of America" illuminates this fascinating chapter of London's -- and North America's -- past, showing how the metropolis functioned as a magnet for colonists from across the Atlantic (including the West Indies) who sought accomplishment, opportunity and commerce.......... > > Among her subjects is Henry Laurens, a Southern plantation... Arriving in London in October 1771 along with two of his sons and a slave... Scipio, began calling himself Robert Laurens as soon as he stepped ashore, obviously eager to be rid of what was clearly identifiable as a slave name. He wanted, Flavell suggests, "to be taken seriously in England."... The temptation to stay in Britain must have been overwhelming: in early 1774, just as Henry Laurens was planning to return to South Carolina, Robert committed a burglary and was imprisoned for 12 months. "Detained at His Majesty's pleasure," Flavell explains, Robert was "where Henry could not get him." Henry Laurens departed from England without his slave. Robert left prison a free man and remained in Britain. > > > > Does anyone know of any other instances of this brilliant tactic to obtain freedom? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >