Slave executions in the United States: A descriptive analysis of social and historical factors

Abstract

Virtually no death penalty research has focused on slave executions in the United States. To correct for this deficiency, this article constructs a descriptive profile of slave executions using M. Watt Espy's index of executions in the United States—better known as The Espy File. The construction of a descriptive profile of slave executions is important because analyses of capital punishment in the United States have not delineated the socio-historical relevance of slavery to the execution of blacks. As an augmentation to the research record regarding the general population of executed prisoners, the profile documents the date, method, and jurisdiction of execution, the criminal offense for which the prisoner was executed, and whether the execution involved compensation paid to the slave owner. The descriptive profile suggests that slave executions are associated with the institutionalization of slavery; a correspondence between geographical regionalization and the execution of slaves; that execution was a means of punishing slaves for participation in slave revolts; and that slave executions are directly related to prohibitions against miscegenation.