The Trial and Execution, for Petit Treason, of Mark and Phillis, Slaves of Capt. John Codmanwho Murdered Their Master at Charlestown, Mass., in 1755; For Which the Man Was Hanged and Gibbeted, and the Woman Was Burned to Death. Including, Also, Some Account of Other Punishments by Burning in Massachusetts
The Trial and Execution, for Petit Treason, of Mark and Phillis, Slaves of Capt. John Codmanwho Murdered Their Master at Charlestown, Mass., in 1755; For Which the Man Was Hanged and Gibbeted, and the Woman Was Burned to Death. Including, Also, Some Account of Other Punishments by Burning in Massachusetts
The title alone tells a story of horror. In 1755, two enslaved people in colonial Massachusetts made a choice that history has rarely recorded: they refused to remain silent victims. Mark and Phillis, property of Captain John Codman, plotted to poison their master. When it failed, they faced punishments designed to terrorize any who might consider similar defiance. Abner Cheney Goodell compiled this account in the late 19th century from court records, newspapers, and legal documents of the era. What emerges is not merely the chronicle of a crime, but a window into the legal architecture of slavery and the baroque cruelty of colonial justice. Mark was hanged and gibbeted - left in chains as a warning. Phillis was burned alive, her punishment reflecting a legal doctrine that deemed a woman's murder of her master an especially monstrous violation of natural order. This slim volume preserves testimonies, legal arguments, and the social panic that followed. It stands as a necessary, painful record of what slavery meant in New England - and what resistance cost.
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Goodell, Abner Cheney. The Trial and Execution, for Petit Treason, of Mark and Phillis, Slaves of Capt. John Codmanwho Murdered Their Master at Charlestown, Mass., in 1755; For Which the Man Was Hanged and Gibbeted, and the Woman Was Burned to Death. Including, Also, Some Account of Other Punishments by Burning in Massachusetts. Lex, lex-books.com/book/the-trial-and-execution-for-petit-treason-of-mark-and-phillis-slaves-of-capt-joh-508a4bd6-38f7-42e0-a252-82434a0490e6.Goodell, A. C. (n.d.). The Trial and Execution, for Petit Treason, of Mark and Phillis, Slaves of Capt. John Codmanwho Murdered Their Master at Charlestown, Mass., in 1755; For Which the Man Was Hanged and Gibbeted, and the Woman Was Burned to Death. Including, Also, Some Account of Other Punishments by Burning in Massachusetts. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-trial-and-execution-for-petit-treason-of-mark-and-phillis-slaves-of-capt-joh-508a4bd6-38f7-42e0-a252-82434a0490e6Goodell, Abner Cheney. The Trial and Execution, for Petit Treason, of Mark and Phillis, Slaves of Capt. John Codmanwho Murdered Their Master at Charlestown, Mass., in 1755; For Which the Man Was Hanged and Gibbeted, and the Woman Was Burned to Death. Including, Also, Some Account of Other Punishments by Burning in Massachusetts. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-trial-and-execution-for-petit-treason-of-mark-and-phillis-slaves-of-capt-joh-508a4bd6-38f7-42e0-a252-82434a0490e6.