Slavery was not accepted passively by many African-Americans. Resistance could take a variety of forms. Theft and escape were overt means of expressing resistance; sabotage and work slow-downs were less obvious, but equally damaging to the agricultural rhythm of the plantation. Landon Carter unknowingly described one instance in which Philip Ludwell Lee's slaves subtly rejected a change in their work patterns:

I talked to Colonel [Francis Lightfoot] Lee …. Lee was perfectly satisfied of the disservice introduced by Carts and plows and really the impossibility of their doing any service …. He …. told me a story of his brother Phill. He had one Pritchard for his Overseer who without Carts or plows always made large fine Crops of Corn and Tobacco. Colo Phill imagining that more might be made with Carts and plows with no small expense provided them in abundance but Pritchard upon one year's tryal being satisfied that his people had laid aside their diligence in working resolved not to live with him and never since has that plantation afforded a good Crop. The Colo. has now taken to his hoes again and is satisfied he is in a good way for a Crop.

All but one of the individuals who emerge as rebels appear in the Westmoreland County records. Tom Limerick must have been both clever and determined. In 1763, he plunged into a succession of troubles, exasperating and embarrassing his master while endangering himself. First, he was tried and acquitted on the charge of stealing a horse from a woman in adjacent Cople Parish. Immediately following this, he was accused of pilfering from a closet in Philip Ludwell Lee's kitchen some beef and pork, a pewter spoon, an osnaburg towel, five pieces of Indian bread, and a parcel of fat.Once again, Tom Limerick was found innocent of theft. The justices, however, were not disposed to let him off completely. Apparently on the assumption that he must have done something wrong to be suspected of so much, he was found guilty of a misdemeanor and given 39 lashes with a whip.

Tom Limerick was undaunted. A few months later, he was brought again to court. This time he was accused of stealing several pieces of Spanish silver from a house belonging to Philip Ludwell Lee, as well as a piece of sail cloth and a Treasurer's note from his master's store. Despite his plea of innocence, the undoubtedly already suspicious justices declared him guilty. Finally finding himself in a serious situation - theft in certain circumstances was punishable by death - Tom Limerick claimed "benefit of clergy." This plea was allowed in certain instances as, a means to avoid a more severe penalty. Benefit of clergy could only be used once to escape punishment; a branded left hand proclaimed to all that this expedient was no longer available. Not surprisingly, Tom Limerick does not appear again in court records or on any of the slave lists. This was one man that Philip Ludwell Lee was probably eager to sell.

Later, in 1776, a male slave named Kajah was convicted of hog stealing. This was a common crime; often slaves would gather in the woods to consume the evidence. Some slaves considered such appropriations only their due, while others were concerned with augmenting their diet. Whatever his reasons for the theft, Kajah was found guilty and sentenced to 39 lashes.

Another slave, Rippon, was accused in 1777 of breaking and entering the milk house of William Speaks. He was said to have stolen ten shillings worth of bacon. Rippon was found guilty but saved himself from a severe whipping by pleading benefit of clergy.

Master and slave could also engage in psychological warfare with one another. This is made abundantly clear in Landon Carter's diary and Philip Ludwell Lee, in a letter to his sister Hannah Corbin, described an encounter with one of his slaves, Sawney.3

Sawney may have been a favored slave of the family, for Philip Ludwell Lee believed he had run away to Peckatone, where by lying he had convinced Hannah of ill treatment. A perturbed Colonel Phil explained to his sister that Sawney had irritated him by waiting at dinner dressed in an old pair of dirty leather breeches with his shirt tail hanging to his knees. His master, finding him after dinner asleep on the dresser with a pipe in his mouth, "wacked him & told him if ever I [saw?] such a dress again I w[oul]d correct him ….. " 4 He complained that while waiting on the table, Sawney would drink liquor out of the bottles behind your back and eat meat out of the dishes he carried, 'tho' he has his regular meals. Despite such provocation, Sawney "has never been touched above twice … and then very gently.' A sense of betrayal creeps into his tone, as Philip Ludwell Lee described his favorable treatment of the slave. In almost a litany of indulgences, he told Hannah that he allowed the slave ten pounds a year, 'to go to all the dances,' and even acceded to his request not to send the slave woman Pat to an outlying quarter for ill behavior. He insisted repeatedly that Sawney had plenty of clothes, even detailing certain items, such as a yellow coat, and adding, "[he] has had more cloa[thing] than any of them.' Revealingly, the defensive Philip Ludwell Lee declared, "he sh[oul]d not be master." Admitting that "[he] [waits] [the] table the best I ever saw," Philip Ludwell Lee asked that his sister punish Sawney for running away and send him back to Stratford.

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The African American Experience At Stratford: 1782

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