During our class Mock Trial presentation, we heard about the case of State v. Mann. Prior to our discussion in class, I had little to no insight as to what the case was about or any of its contents. In terms of the case we were looking at here, let’s start with some background information. In 1829, Elizabeth Jones hired out one of her slaves named Lydia to a man by the name of John Mann. It seemed as if Lydia was treated poorly and punished often during her time with Mr. Mann. As a result she began to run away when Mann shot and wounded her. This was the story all according to John Mann of Chowan County. The county tried him and found him guilty of assault and battery and was fined five dollars. He was unhappy with this judgment, calling it “unjust” and the debate over right from wrong sparked from there.
Now, since the lower county court gave him the guilty verdict, he was able to appeal to the higher courts. According to NCSU in State v. Mann (1892), a North Carolina Supreme Court judge by the name of Thomas Ruffin ruled in favor of the defendant, as did the overall court in the end, saying that “One who has a right to the labor of a slave, has also a right to all the means of controlling his conduct which the owner has”. It was interesting to hear about all the different points made off of this general ideal and while it was not surprising this was the decision made in this time, it was disgusting to hear that people were so willing to condone slavery. Further, that they were able to condone the harsh and brutal physical treatment these slaves often endured.
This case was entirely new to me so all of it was new territory for me. However, what was really eye opening to me, again, was the decision the Supreme Court of North Carolina made and the feeling of the public continuously towards slaves. The opinions from all those on Mann’s side continuously justified and condoned slavery. This did seem to be a societal norm, but as someone who never lived in that time it is a lot to understand. Especially, like in this case, with slavery still being legal in some states. The overall feeling was that a slave owner had complete control over their slaves and how they chose to treat them as well as how they allow others to treat them.
I am in complete disagreement with this as I not only do not believe in the idea of slavery but I especially do not believe in the extreme mistreatment of them. I believe that the county was completely on the right track with their verdict and the Supreme Court should have followed through. Instead, the nation allowed the mistreatment of slaves to go on for much longer than that. Even if you ignore the morality surrounding the case, the straight facts give you a clear verdict. Lydia was property of Elizabeth Jones and as a result, John Mann’s choice to overstep and treat the slave as his own should have resulted in much deeper consequences.
Sources:
https://www.lexisnexis.com/community/casebrief/p/casebrief-state-v-mann
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina_v._Mann
https://www.ncpedia.org/state-v-john-mann
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