Causes And Effects Of The New York Conspiracy Trials

The New York Conspiracy Trials took place in eighteenth-century America. During this time, there was a lot of paranoia and terror spreading throughout New York City in 1741. At the time, people were put on trial based on false accusations and hearsay, similar to the Salem Witch Trials that took place in seventeenth-century America. The increase of mysterious fires also caused an increase in animosity between the whites and blacks. In addition, the court system failed to take into account that these people could have been innocent until proven guilty-also known as habeas corpus. Race relations and the legal system were inadequate as the New York Conspiracy Trials made racism apparent and the courts appear incompetent.

Since there was a large slave population in New York City, it caused paranoia amongst the whites, leading them to believe that all the black slaves were out to get them. In “The New-York Conspiracy, Or A History of the Negro Plot, with the Journal of the Proceedings Against the Conspirators at New-York in the Years 1741-2,” Daniel Horsmanden said, “Insurrections and conspiracies were, at this juncture, frequent in the West-India islands, and great apprehensions were entertained of an invasion by the French and Spaniards. These circumstances aggravated the horrors of a domestic plot to such a degree that the white inhabitants, regarding every Negro slave as an incendiary and an assassin, carried their apprehensions and resentments beyond all bounds.” Due to the large slave population, it was no surprise that the whites were uneasy at the idea of a slave rebellion. The whites suspected the capability of slaves committing arson, as they certainly did not trust them. This paranoia and terror of black slaves getting their revenge on their white slaveholders and whites’ in general, as well as the whites hatred against slaves led people to believe the black slaves were the culprits

These fears had promoted a variety of legal barriers to restrict the independence of African Americans, and defend white power at all costs. One method of defense was the mass execution of alleged slave conspirators, the court relying exclusively on the law of Negro evidence. Negro evidence was an incriminating testimony of one slave against another-the court needed no other proof than this to sentence a slave to death in 1741. The sole purpose of Negro evidence was to prosecute potential slave uprisings. There was no public resistance to either the prosecution or the administration. As the sense of panic diminished during the two years following the trials, critics began to question the court’s actions. This led Justice Horsmanden to publish a defense and strengthen the colonial authority, hoping to silence public criticism of the court. His reasoning for publishing this record was to justify the court’s verdicts and punishments