Claims & Petitions

In the months after the rebellion, several Southampton County slaveholders petitioned the Virginia legislature to be compensated for slaves that were killed during the attempt to suppress the revolt.

Some of the slaves were rebels themselves; owners asked for reimbursement on the grounds that they would have received payment had their slaves been tried and executed through formal judicial procedures.

Other slaves were bystanders killed in the crossfire or by militia who in the confusion mistakenly identified them as rebels. Thomas Fitzhugh’s slave was killed while actually defending the home of Fitzhugh’s neighbor Dr. Samuel Blunt.

Whether the slaves had sided with the rebels or with the slaveholders, the General Assembly denied all requests for compensation from owners of slaves who had been killed.