Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, one of the most common punishments during the pre-Civil War years was the execution of slaves, however, not all slaves were black. Both blacks and whites were indentured servants during the colonial period and there was very little distinction made between them. The author points out that throughout the history of United States' criminal justice, black males have been disproportionately executed more often for rape crimes than any other racial and ethnic groups. The paper relates that, an added dimension to slave executions in the United States is that states often compensated slave owners for the loss of executed slaves to prevent owners from concealing slaves accused of capital crimes and to shift the costs of public justice to the public at large.

From the Paper:

"Free black people comprised a sizable population in the United States during slavery. The free black population numbered 59,466 and comprised about 8 percent of the overall black population in the United States in 1790, but by 1860 the free black population increased to 488,070 and comprised about 11 percent of the overall free black population. Northern states had the highest proportion of free blacks in their population during this period. While the absolute number of free blacks is comparable for northern and southern states, there is considerable variation in the representation of free blacks as a proportion of the black population for these regions. In northern states, free blacks numbered 27,109 and comprised about 40 percent of the black population in 1790; by 1860 the entire black population in the North was no longer living in bondage."

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