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Chapter 1 - An Ambush

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2020

Jeff Forret
Jeff Forret
Affiliation:
Lamar University, Texas
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Summary

A group of slaves suspected of brutally attacking a slave patrol in Fairfax County, Virginia, on leap day night of 1840 were placed on trial before a Virginia court of oyer and terminer, which found two of them - the brothers Alfred and Spencer – guilty and sentenced them to death for the crime. The local community divided in its response to the verdict. Whereas some whites in the area welcomed the slaves’ impending executions, others lobbied the governor for a commutation of sentence to spare their lives. Virginia governor Thomas Walker Gilmer reprieved the sentence of one of the brothers to sale and transportation outside the United States of America, but permitted the other brother to hang at the gallows.

Keywords

slave patrolFairfax County VirginiaAlexandriacourt of oyer and terminerThomas Walker Gilmer
Type
Chapter
Information
Williams' Gang
A Notorious Slave Trader and his Cargo of Black Convicts
 , pp. 17 - 33
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • An Ambush
  • Jeff Forret, Lamar University, Texas
  • Book: Williams' Gang
  • Online publication: 16 January 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108651912.002
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • An Ambush
  • Jeff Forret, Lamar University, Texas
  • Book: Williams' Gang
  • Online publication: 16 January 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108651912.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • An Ambush
  • Jeff Forret, Lamar University, Texas
  • Book: Williams' Gang
  • Online publication: 16 January 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108651912.002
Available formats
×