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Chapter 7 - State v. Williams

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2020

Jeff Forret
Affiliation:
Lamar University, Texas
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Summary

Charged with the illegal importation of convict slaves, William H. Williams faced a series of three trials before the New Orleans First District Criminal Court in 1841. Williams’ defense argued that the slave trader was merely passing through New Orleans en route to Texas, with no intention of selling any convict slaves within the state, whereas the state prosecutor maintained that the fact of Williams’ introduction of the convict slaves was proof enough of his guilt. Jurors struggled to reach a verdict, and the first two trials ended in hung juries. At the third trial, however, Williams was found guilty. He opted to serve a year in the Orleans Parish jail rather than pay exorbitant fines. Williams’ attorneys secured an appeal before the Louisiana state Supreme Court in 1842, and although Williams won, by then he had served almost the entirety of his time in prison.

Type
Chapter
Information
Williams' Gang
A Notorious Slave Trader and his Cargo of Black Convicts
, pp. 161 - 186
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • State v. Williams
  • Jeff Forret, Lamar University, Texas
  • Book: Williams' Gang
  • Online publication: 16 January 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108651912.008
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  • State v. Williams
  • Jeff Forret, Lamar University, Texas
  • Book: Williams' Gang
  • Online publication: 16 January 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108651912.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • State v. Williams
  • Jeff Forret, Lamar University, Texas
  • Book: Williams' Gang
  • Online publication: 16 January 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108651912.008
Available formats
×