Magistrates could authorize searches of enslaved people’s homes

Clause 15 authorized justices to investigate reports that an enslaved person had been improperly punished or confined, and to arrange an allowance during an inquiry. But if officials judged the...

Clause 16 defined an enslaved person absent from an owner or employer for forty-eight hours on working days, without a ticket or permit, as a runaway. The definition converted unlicensed mobility into...

Clause 19 required the Provost Marshal to keep captured runaways in custody, post their names at the courthouse, and advertise their names and owners—or physical descriptions if owners were unknown—in...

Clause 20 directed magistrates to investigate when someone jailed as a runaway claimed to be free. If the justices found the claim credible, they had to release the person; if not, they could remand...

Clause 24 prescribed punishment for an enslaved person who remained away for more than six months: hard labor or transportation for life, depending on magistrates’ judgment. For shorter absences, it...

Clause 28 prohibited enslaved people from beating drums or using other loud instruments for diversion after ten at night, while penalizing owners who knowingly permitted it. Clause 33 separately...

Clause 32 authorized free people to apprehend enslaved people found in St George’s streets between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. unless they were attending an owner or held written permission. Those detained...

Clause 35 criminalized practices officials labeled obeah, including healing or ritual work and possession of listed materials. It grouped spiritual practices with grave threats, allowed severe...

Clause 37 subjected enslaved defendants accused of rebellion, murder, burglary, robbery, arson, and several other serious offenses to the Supreme Court’s criminal process. The court was to assign...

A February 11 issue of the St George’s Chronicle printed a list covering runaways apprehended by the Rangers from August through December 1825. Historian Heather Freund uses the list alongside other...