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The Great New York Conspiracy Of 1741 Chapter 1 Summary

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In the introduction to The Great New York Conspiracy of 1741, the author, Peter Charles Hoffer, asks the reader to asks themselves if the government went too far in to analyzing a plot behind the commission of arson and burglary crimes by a coalition of slaves and white societal figures. He urged us to look deeper into the potentially doctored documentation of the conspiracy trials and play the devil's advocate against the court system. The trials centered around the arraignment of John Hughson, Margaret Kerry, Caesar, and Prince for the commission of arson and burglary, which constituted the destruction of warehouses and buildings in town. The idea of a possible conspiracy arose from the community that frequented Hughson's bar, many of whom …show more content…

The legislature and the courts worked together to inhibit slaves from being able to adequately represent themselves in court, likely as an effort to continue making a cautionary tale of deviant slaves. We observe a malpractice of the courts in the case of Mary Burton, a 16-year-old girl who claimed to have borne witness to the alleged conspiracies that took place at John Hughson's bar. She had claimed to know nothing of the crime and intended to keep her silence on matters regarding to the alleged conspiracy, until she was told by prosecutors that she would have to answer to God for her silence (Hoffer p. 77). They used a type of religious coercion on Burton in order to get information out of her. In a God-fearing society like many of the New England colonies were, this was enough to make her say anything and even risk perjuring herself on the stand. Uniformly in colonial courts at the time, "hearsay" and prejudicial remarks were admissible as evidence to the trial (Hoffer p. 26). This made the coerced testimonies of Burton and other alike individuals evidence of the court, which gave the court the ability to convict innocent people without presenting material evidence. The only advantage for the slaves in this situation is the absence of witness testimony. In the rare case that the prosecution fails to provide a witness to corroborate the charges of the defendant, the court has no choice but to acquit. If Mary Burton had not submitted her questionable testimony into evidence and if everyone involved had claimed ignorance to the conspiracy, then the lives of the alleged conspirators that were executed might have been

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He challenged this assumption by arguing that historians and South Carolina officials had written the result of the Stono Rebellion in reverse. Many of the historians and officials had assumed that there was a competent conspiracy theory to rebel before the violence even erupted. Hoffer again disagreed with this assumption. After analyzing the many causes that could’ve started the rebellion, the author came across many shortcomings and deficiencies of the traditional conspiracy theories that many individuals believe caused the rebellion.

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657 Words | 3 Pages

Level 1: Literal In the Wonders of the World by Cotton Mather, Martha Carrier is accused of being a witch and was “...indicted for the bewitching certain persons, according to the form usual in such cases, pleading not guilty to her indictment”. During her trial, many people were called as witnesses to testify against her. Even her children went as far to say that “they were witches themselves, but that their mother had made them so”. Though her children’s statement was not used against her, there was already enough sufficient statements that were claimed to be true “evidence” against the case of Martha Carrier.

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The Negro Plot Trials of 1741 was a time of mass hysteria and moral panic. With Robberies and fires breaking out, the citizens of New York city were quick to jump to conclusions in hopes of staying safe. The environment at the time and the actions that took place both contributed to what happened. The Negro Plot Trials was a witch hunt because fear took over and people were murdered and persecuted without solid evidence.

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1592 Words | 7 Pages

Melton McLaurin’s book Celia, A Slave, addresses the moral dilemma in the United States during the 1850’s about the heated debate over slavery. Celia, a Slave is a true story about the trial, conviction and hanging execution of a young female slave for the murder of her master. Celia, a slave, faced daily sexual exploitations at the hands of her master which started at the tender age of fourteen, and ultimately ended when she murdered him. The conditions surrounding Celia’s life exemplify the certainties of slave life in the South and moral choices the institution of slavery forced upon slaves and slaveholders. The course and result of Celia's trial were affected by people and a court framework that were attempting to accommodate the individual

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249 Words | 1 Pages

As the conspiracy trials of 1741 continued, it became evident that the promise of a pardon ultimately led to false testimonies. Residents who had been accused of arson or as participants in the conspiracy of 1741, would often utter lies as a means to save themselves from being publicly beaten or from being hanged. The fear that those of lower class and rank became evident as soon false testimonies became mundane during the proceedings of the New York conspiracy trails of 1741. This was depicted as a colored slave named Cambridge, confessed that his testimony against Cajoe, another slave, was false and begged for forgiveness as he was overpowered by fear to accuse (133). The fear that soon inhabited the hearts of both slaves and poor whites

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1005 Words | 5 Pages

The Massachusetts Bay Experiment, despite the fact that it began as a business endeavor, was profoundly grounded on religion. As John Winthrop said, they needed to make a "city upon a slope," or an ideal world where God's support could be accomplished. To accomplish this Promised Land, the Puritans dedicated themselves to their congregation life and God. Investing hours at administration consistently, the Puritans were a nearly weave group because of the force of the congregation. At whatever point any issue in the group developed, the Puritans looked to the congregation to give them an answer.

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The New York colony soil was fertile and great for farming which was the reason the British wanted to remove it from the hands of the Dutch. New York was named after James the Duke of York. The Dutch were the first to settle in New York but then was preccoupied by the English in 1674. When the Dutch occupied New York they called it New Amsterdam.

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Many complications arise when proving the slave conspiracy in Winthrop D. Jordan 's Tumult and Silence at Second Creek. In Mississippi during the spring and summer of 1861, slaves from Adams County plotted to gain freedom from their owners. Following the unveiling of the conspiracy to the slave-owners, the so-called court proceedings show reason to believe that something went awry. The way the slave-owners arrived at the information of the conspiracy and the way they proceeded in court lead to questions about the legitimacy of the conspiracy. Also, each reply from the slaves resemble each other with uncanny similarity.

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parsonage. Even though the oppressed girls were among the main accusers during the trials, many historiographers believe the deranged girls parents, particularly Thomas Putnam and Reverend Samuel Parris, were inciting the situation with the girls and purposely influencing them to accuse certain people in the community they were not particularly fond of, to gain revenge or just out of spite. Cotton Mather was the minister of the Salem church, and truly believed in witchcraft. He had decided to investigate the unusual behavior of the children who belonged to John Goodwin, a Mason.

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There are many important events that led up to the Salem Witch Trials. In 1233, Pope Gregory established the medieval inquisition to bring order against the growing heresy in which he later hunts down witches. In 1347, the Bubonic Plague or also known as Black Death struck in Europe demonstrating how ignorance lead to superstition.

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The Boston Massacre was influenced by the British soldiers first shooting the colonists. Due to the commands of Captain Preston, the soldiers were forced to engage in fighting, said by William Wyatt. In his account, the British were ordered around by Captain Preston and were not in the usual formation for a battle. From other perspectives, like George Sanderlin and Andrew, they had heard the captain boom, “Fire! Be the consequences at will.”

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Accusations of witchcraft, witches, and sorcerers were a major topic of discussion in France for hundreds of years in the past. Various witch trials took place in which an unjust verdict would be reached most of the time. Two specific witch trials that took place in France were the Valais Witch Trials of 1428-1447 and the Aix-en-Provence Witch Trials of 1611). Both of these trials exhibit wrongly accused people of being forced into admitting guilt, but differed greatly.

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Gender roles played a heavy role in colonial society, and the women who did not conform to these roles were easy targets for witchcraft accusations. Women who were post-menopausal, widowed, unmarried were not fulling their “duty” to society of bearing children and thus could come under fire (Lecture.) Those who were aggressive, out spoken, or did not do as another wished could also bring cries of “witch!” (Lecture.) This is highlighted in Cotton Mather’s Accounts of the Salem Witchcraft Trials, one of these accused women Susana Martin stands trial with many of the testifiers being men who had been wronged by Martin in some way or another.

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Imagine that a person is accused and arrested for a crime that they did not commit. Also, imagine this person has been accused not by someone who “witnessed” them commit the act, but is accused by someone who heard the story of them possibly committing it. For Reverend George Burroughs this was a reality. Reverend Burroughs was one of the 20 people executed for witchcraft in 1692 during the Salem Witch Trials. He was also the minister of Salem Village from 1680-1683 (Nichols and Whelan).

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Introduction The period of the trial was the 1910, more specifically the trial started on May 13, 1910 (pg.1). During the 1910 America was still developing into a world power, and many immigrants from other countries where attracted to t he prosperity that was available in America (Baily, S. L., 1983, pg.281). New York State specifically was one of the fastest growing states in the country with one of the best economical prosperity for native workers, and immigrants (Baily, S. L., 1983, pg.281). What is the crime in the trial?

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