State v Mann

Today in class we talked about the case of North Carolina vs. John Mann. The primary issue that arose in this case was a classic property case. However several complications came out of the situation presented in the case.
Mann shot in the back Lydia who was a slave that belonged to Elizabeth Jones but had been rented out to Mann for a year. The state charged Mann $10 for assault and battery. However because after whipping the slave Lydia she tried to "escape" and run he was within his rights to then shoot her in the back in order to stop her from fleeing.
Because during the time of lease the ownership is transferred to whoever is leasing the slave he was within all of his rights to shoot Lydia. Although this may seem very poor in regards to treatment of the slave the government can not view it as such because slaves are property and government can not side with property.
Several other arguments however could be made one of which is that slavery is morally wrong under god; however the courts can not side with that side of the case either because that is a moral issue and not a legal issue.
A further argument that can be made is that property is useless without instruction therefor without telling a slave what to do it is useless. The final outcome of the case was won by Mann and he did not have to pay the $10.

Image url: http://ncpedia.org/state-v-john-mann