State vs Mann: Script

   I believe Mann's defense was valid in regard to the case of State Vs. Mann. I have many points to prove my stance based off of the norms, customs, and traditions at the time.

    Some of these norms were that pretty much all of the white slave owners wanted and strived to maintain social control over their slaves.

  

  Some of the examples to prove this are that slaves couldn't be away from their owners without permission, they could not assemble without the consent from a white person, they could not have firearms, and they could not learn to read or write. 

    More of these social norms included the punishment of slaves for misbehaving which leads to the shared belief that slavery was meant to be dehumanizing. 

 

   These traditions of punishments could take the forms of whipping or branding. Death was another form of punishment, which was acceptable in cases where the slaves commit extreme acts of violence towards white people. 

In this case, Elizabeth Jones disobeyed Mann, by trying to escape a punishment, which had to have used some sort of violence to get out of the situation she was in. 

   

 Some more norms were that slaves were considered property. This means they were not considered human beings, so no person died if she was considered property instead of a person. For example, they lived in shacks and slept on the floor and got very little food, showing how they really are not treated like human beings. 

    

A norm came to play when the white slave owners started to exercise more control over their slaves when the slave revolts grew larger. 

    

An example of these slave revolts was the Nat Turner Rebellion, which was a slave rebellion which took place in Southhampton VA, caused the social norms, customs, and traditions all to change. 

    

Additional restrictions were placed on the slaves after this event, which caused the norms to involve harsher punishments on the slaves. These customs were not only placed on enslaved African Americans, but also freed slaves. 

  

  The last social custom was the hierarchal system in the State of North Carolina. This consisted of six social classes. The sixth, and lowest were the enslaved people. They were below everyone else in society. In this case, Mann was on a higher level than Jones.  

Based off of all these reasons, why would we take the side of a slave when all of the norms, traditions, and customs prove that Mann's actions in killing Lydia were justified.