Unlike the plantation owners, and to some degree indentured servants, the blacks had no
political or judicial clout either in England or in the colonies. The political and judicial establishment, completely controlled by the planters, created laws that safeguarded their economic interests at the expense of the enslaved Africans. Even the indentured servants did have one important right: the right to the courts. “Legal considerations, however laxly regarded, imposed some limits, as did the realization, at least in North America, that some of the mistreated would eventually command free status and political influence.” From the court records, there is evidence that servants often sued their masters for grievances such as excessive punishment, freedom due to…