The policing of slavery in New Orleans, 1852-1860

Journal of Historical Sociology

Volumn 14, Issue 4, 2001, Pages 397-417

  McGoldrick, Stacy K ^a  

^a NEW SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH   (United States)

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EID: 0035603580     PISSN: 09521909     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/1467-6443.00153     Document Type: Article

References (71)

1. I wish to thank Diane E. Davis for all her excellent feedback and ideas; along with the students in her seminar at the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science, New School University,' State Power and the Law,' Spring, 2001. I also wish to thank James Miller for his enormously helpful suggestions throughout several versions of this paper.
2. None of the slaves in the newspaper coverage are identified by name.
3. Daily Picayune October 2, 1854:2.
4. Blassingame, John W. 1973. Black New Orleans, 1860-1880. Chicago, University of Chicago Press. Page 233.
5. State Legislature. An Act Relative to Slaves and Free Persons of Color. Sec. 18, 1857. Morris, Thomas D. 1996. Southern Slavery and the Law: 1619-1860. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Page 183.
6. Generally articles dealing with slaves identified the slave by first name and the full name of the owner, while Free People of Color were denoted by full name with 'fpc' after it. Scipto was identified only by first name, but no owner was listed, making his status uncertain.
7. Daily Picayune October 17, 1853: 4.
8. ibid. October 22, 1853:2.
9. Rousey, Dennis C. 1996. Policing the Southern City: New Orleans 1805-1889. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. Page 88.
10. Monkkonen, Erick. 1981. Police in Urban America, 1860-1920. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
11. Walkowitz, Judith R. 1992. City of Dreadful Delight: Narratives of Sexual Danger in Late Victorian London. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
12. Johnson, David Ralph. 1979. Policing the Urban Underworld: The Impact of Crime on the Development of the American Police, 1800-1887. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
13. See Miller, D. A. 1988. The Novel and the Police. Berkeley: University of California Press; and Donzelot, Jacques. 1979. The Policing of Families. New York: Pantheon.
14. See Miller, D. A. 1988. The Novel and the Police. Berkeley: University of California Press; and Donzelot, Jacques. 1979. The Policing of Families. New York: Pantheon.
15. Rousey (1996: 11).
16. Free Persons of Color in New Orleans did try to help slaves to freedom, and sometimes got arrested for it. (New Orleans Daily Picayune October 4, 1852; October 5, 1852; October 10, 1854; February 8, 1855; and September 13, 1857).
17. Morris (1996: 372-373).
18. ibid. (1996:373).
19. 'Each statu liberi, shall when he becomes free, be transported out of the State at the expense of the last owner, by proceeding before the district court at the suit of any citizens, unless permitted by law to remain. When transported out of the State, he shall, on returning, be liable to all the penalties provided by law against free persons of color coming into the State.' An Act of the Legislature: An Act relative to Slaves and Free Colored Persons, Sec 90. 1857.
20. Domínguez, Virginia R. 1997. White by Definition: Social Classification in Creole Louisiana. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. Page 23.
21. Gehman, Mary. 1996. The Free People of Color of New Orleans: An Introduction. New Orleans: Pelican Press.
22. Ibid. Dominguez (1997).
23. Domínguez (1997: 57-89).
24. Gehman. (1994:44).
25. Domínguez (1997: 26).
26. City Ordinance No. 765 (15, 16, and 19) 1857.
27. In October 1858, the mayor recommended that free blacks in town off ships register and 'Some white person should be responsible for their conduct' (Daily Picayune October 16, 1858: 2). In August of 1859, the state legislature passed a law requiring all Free Persons of Color arriving into port be 'immediately lodged in jail, and remain there until the departure of the boat or vessel on which they came' (August 21, 1859: 4). This law created a difficulty for long established free black residents of New Orleans, who now had to have on their person proof of freedom and residence. The Daily Picayune noted the difficulty of this situation for free blacks, although it did so with its usual sarcasm, complete with racial insult: 'There is great trouble among colored people just now on account of the late law of the Legislature, which will be in force in a few days. Many have been living in this city for ten and twenty years, who have taken no formal steps to be legally domicilated [sic] here, and will now find themselves in contravention, through error and ignorance.' (ibid. August 26, 1859 [afternoon edition]: 4).
28. In October 1858, the mayor recommended that free blacks in town off ships register and 'Some white person should be responsible for their conduct' (Daily Picayune October 16, 1858: 2). In August of 1859, the state legislature passed a law requiring all Free Persons of Color arriving into port be 'immediately lodged in jail, and remain there until the departure of the boat or vessel on which they came' (August 21, 1859: 4). This law created a difficulty for long established free black residents of New Orleans, who now had to have on their person proof of freedom and residence. The Daily Picayune noted the difficulty of this situation for free blacks, although it did so with its usual sarcasm, complete with racial insult: 'There is great trouble among colored people just now on account of the late law of the Legislature, which will be in force in a few days. Many have been living in this city for ten and twenty years, who have taken no formal steps to be legally domicilated [sic] here, and will now find themselves in contravention, through error and ignorance.' (ibid. August 26, 1859 [afternoon edition]: 4).
29. An Act of the Legislature: An Act relative to Slaves and Free Colored persons. Sec. 1-13. 1857.
30. The paper ran ads describing runaway slaves and offering rewards for their capture. Police officers were by no means the only people in New Orleans looking for runaways, many private citizens anxious for a reward, or hired by a slave owner, would be on the hunt.
31. Safekeeping could cover anything from a slave in danger (lost, sick, on the run from an owner the police recognized as cruel, etc.), to a dispute between two whites over ownership of a slave, to the whim of the officer. In short, although not often used (8.6% of slave arrests were for safekeeping), safekeeping was a loose and easy rationale for arrest.
32. Later, I include 'without proper pass' as a vice crime because it was often thought of as a nuisance but not a slave running away.
33. See Douglass, Frederick. 1965 [1854]. Narrative of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. New York; for a description of slave life in the city; Wade, Richard. 1964. Slavery in the Cities: The South 1820-1860. New York; and (1862); Olmsted, Frederick Law. 1953. The Cotton Kingdom: A Traveler's Observations on Cotton and Slavery in the American Slave States. New York: Knopf.
34. See Douglass, Frederick. 1965 [1854]. Narrative of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. New York; for a description of slave life in the city; Wade, Richard. 1964. Slavery in the Cities: The South 1820-1860. New York; and (1862); Olmsted, Frederick Law. 1953. The Cotton Kingdom: A Traveler's Observations on Cotton and Slavery in the American Slave States. New York: Knopf.
35. See Douglass, Frederick. 1965 [1854]. Narrative of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. New York; for a description of slave life in the city; Wade, Richard. 1964. Slavery in the Cities: The South 1820-1860. New York; and (1862); Olmsted, Frederick Law. 1953. The Cotton Kingdom: A Traveler's Observations on Cotton and Slavery in the American Slave States. New York: Knopf.
36. Daily Picayune October 21, 1859: 1.
37. Wade (1964: 23).
38. City Ordinance No. 765 (1-24) 1857.
39. New Orleans monthly police reports published in the Daily Picayune Augusts, 1852; October 10, 1852; September 17, 1853; November 19, 1854; February 24, 1855; and March 18, 1855.
40. Daily Picayune February 1852. The police reports did not distinguish race of arrestee.
41. From the published police reports, Daily Picayune. Although the police reports were printed monthly, the paper only printed them sporadically. Luckily, the reports found are spread out and not around a particular event that would cause an increase in slave arrests, and have very similar proportions to each other. Therefore I am reasonably confident that the reports found represent 'typical' arrest rates for any given month. Finally, Rousey, in a slightly different sample, says that slave arrests made up for 12.4% of arrests. Although he does not explain how he classified arrests, his finding does fall within the range of my own findings (1996: 93).)
42. The other 51.5% of slave arrests were around cruelty to slaves (very few) and suspicion of running away (most).
43. Daily Picayune October 14, 1854: 1.
44. The Daily Picayune, for reasons as obvious as their racism, felt no need to capitalize Negro. I did not correct it because it demonstrates the attitude of the paper, I did not mark it as a mistake because I don't think it was.
45. Gambling was the second most common 'vice' crime around slavery that the Daily Picayune discussed. The first most popular was whites selling liquor to slaves. Most articles about gambling were simply arrest notices, however, and this was the only one with substantial editorializing.
46. Daily Picayune August 21 1859: 2; August 26, 1859: 4.
47. Daily Picayune August 21 1859: 2; August 26, 1859: 4.
48. Kendall, John Smith. 1922. History of New Orleans. Vol. 1 New York. Page 75.
49. Rousey (1996) refers to them as Gendarmerie, Kendall (1922) as gens d'armes.
50. The use of 'American' goes back to the Louisiana Purchase. The French and Spanish families that lived there before the American takeover of the city considered themselves 'Creole' while those who came to the city after the Louisiana Purchase were considered 'American.' At mid-century, this was still a salient difference in the eyes of New Orleanians.
51. Rousey (1996: 41).
52. Daily Crescent January 4, April 4, 1850; May 26, 1851. As quoted in Soulé, Leon Cyprian. 1961. The Know Nothing Party in New Orleans: A Reappraisal Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. Page 14.
53. Daily Crescent January 4, April 4, 1850; May 26, 1851. As quoted in Soulé, Leon Cyprian. 1961. The Know Nothing Party in New Orleans: A Reappraisal Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. Page 14.
54. Castellanos, Henry C. 1990 [1895]. New Orleans as it was: Episodes of Louisiana Life. Gretna: Pelican. Page 163-64.
55. Based on the survey of February, August, and October between 1852 and 1860. They also gave at least as much space to coverage of slave arrest as to traditional crimes committed by white people and Free People of Color. Moreover, when African Americans were mentioned in the papers at all (including the other local papers) it was around issues of law and order almost half the time (Lawrence Dunbar Reddick, 1939. The Negro in the New Orleans Press, 1850-1860: A Study in Attitudes and Propaganda. Unpublished dissertation, Department of History, University of Chicago, p 55.)
56. State Legislature An Act relative to Slaves and Free Colored Persons. Sec. 18. 1857.
57. Morris (1996); Waldrep, Christopher. 1998. Roots of Disorder: Race and Criminal Justice in the American South, 1817-80. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
58. There is no way to tell how many people were actually arrested for assaulting a slave, for the police reports did not divide 'assault' between the race or free status of the victum or perpetrator. There were, however, 24 arrests for slave 'ill treatment.'
59. February 16-February 23, 1852.
60. Castellanos [1895] 1990: 107-110.
61. Confession of Adam, printed in the Daily Picayune on February 20, 1852: 2. This collage of currency use (gold, Spanish doubloons, bank notes, coins) continued in New Orleans until after the Civil War. During the occupation, when Butler and then Banks imposed uniform currency (and solidified Union, after Lincoln declared one American currency) white New Orleanians continued to use all kinds of different monies on the black market, and would even use specific currency accepted (including Confederate) at specific shops. (Solomon, Clara. 1995. The Civil War Diary of Clara Solomon: Growing up in New Orleans, 1861-1862. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press; Capers, Gerald Mortimer. 1965. Occupied City: New Orleans Under the Federals, 1862-1865. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press.)
62. Confession of Adam, printed in the Daily Picayune on February 20, 1852: 2. This collage of currency use (gold, Spanish doubloons, bank notes, coins) continued in New Orleans until after the Civil War. During the occupation, when Butler and then Banks imposed uniform currency (and solidified Union, after Lincoln declared one American currency) white New Orleanians continued to use all kinds of different monies on the black market, and would even use specific currency accepted (including Confederate) at specific shops. (Solomon, Clara. 1995. The Civil War Diary of Clara Solomon: Growing up in New Orleans, 1861-1862. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press; Capers, Gerald Mortimer. 1965. Occupied City: New Orleans Under the Federals, 1862-1865. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press.)
63. Confession of Adam, printed in the Daily Picayune on February 20, 1852: 2. This collage of currency use (gold, Spanish doubloons, bank notes, coins) continued in New Orleans until after the Civil War. During the occupation, when Butler and then Banks imposed uniform currency (and solidified Union, after Lincoln declared one American currency) white New Orleanians continued to use all kinds of different monies on the black market, and would even use specific currency accepted (including Confederate) at specific shops. (Solomon, Clara. 1995. The Civil War Diary of Clara Solomon: Growing up in New Orleans, 1861-1862. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press; Capers, Gerald Mortimer. 1965. Occupied City: New Orleans Under the Federals, 1862-1865. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press.)
64. Confession of Adam, printed in the Daily Picayune on February 20, 1852: 2.
65. Castellanos [1895] 1990: 106.
66. 'Any persons who shall arrest [could be private citizen as well as police] a runaway slave on board of any steamboat, ship, or other vessel, and lodge such slave in the police jail of this city, shall be entitled to a reward of ten dollars, which reward shall be paid on due proof being made to the person or persons so arresting and lodging such slave in said jail, by the owner of such slave prior to obtaining release for such slave; in default thereof, such slave shall remain in custody.' City Ordinance No. 768 (19) 1857. In this section I refer to the 1857 ordinances because it is the most recent complete set and reinforced many of the previous laws and established new ones. These ordinances are the last comprehensive revamping of the slave laws in Louisiana.
67. Daily Picayune. October 1, 1859: 1.
68. ibid. October 6, 1858:2. Emphasis added.
69. Quadroon refers to Free People of Color who were a quarter black. However, in common usage it could be used to denote anyone of mixed race heritage.
70. Castellanos [1895] 1990; Cable, George Washington. 1970. Old Creole Days. New York: Garret.
71. Tansey, Richard. 1979. 'Prostitution and Politics in Antebellum New Orleans.' Southern Studies. Vol XVIII, No. 4: 449-479.