The act allows a defence but bars an appeal

On 7 June 1796 Grenada’s assembly enacted a law for trying enslaved people suspected of involvement in the ongoing rebellion. It distinguished people said to have acted willingly from those said to...

The preamble says authorities should distinguish enslaved people who willingly took an active part in rebellion from those “in some measure” compelled after enslavers fled to St George’s. This...

Clause II required a captured or surrendered enslaved person to be brought before a justice of the peace for examination as soon as convenient. The justice could examine the person and witnesses,...

Under clause II, a justice could commit an enslaved person to gaol or another secure place if an examination created “just grounds to suspect” guilt or if the person was deemed dangerous and unfit...

The commander in chief could direct three or more justices to hold a trial, and those justices summoned five “respectable white persons” from the parish or adjoining parishes as jurors. Three were...

Clause II declared the evidence of enslaved people “good and sufficient proof” for or against one another in trials under the act. If a material witness was absent, justices could adjourn for...

Clause IV made an enslaved witness found guilty of knowingly giving false evidence liable to the same punishment as the accused person would have faced, or another punishment the court considered...

Clause II prescribed public execution by hanging for death sentences and required the person to be kept free from intoxication from trial through execution. It left the body’s later disposition to the...

Clause II directed people sentenced to hard labor in chains to clear the interior woods and make roads across Grenada, under overseers and a sufficient guard paid at public expense. The provision...

Clause VII required a court and jury to value a person sentenced to death, banishment, or chain labor at up to £100 according to trade or occupation, and authorized public payment of that amount to...