Remarkable Case Of Small Town Slavery Analysis

Murders continued to increase during the pre Civil War era also referred to as the antebellum era. The reason behind all these murders ranged from jealousy to money. James Gordon Bennett in “The Recent Tragedy”, Lincoln in “Remarkable Case of Arrest for Murder” and Nathaniel Hawthorne in “A show of wax-figures” discuss how money, professions, and jealousy played a role in murders. On the other hand authors such as Lisa C Tolbert in “Murder in Franklin: The Mysteries of Small-Town Slavery” argue differently by saying that money didn 't play a factor, but race did. Individuals may proclaim that race did play a factor, but did other things play a bigger factor? Jealousy, profession, and richness played a more prominent role in the murders during …show more content…
One of the most memorable cases that Lincoln was apart of was the “trial of William Trailor for the murder of Archibald Fisher” in 1841. According to “Remarkable Case of Arrest for murder” Lincoln says, “ Fischer was dead, and had willed him his money, and that he had got about fifteen hundred dollars by it” (74). Fischer had no family so therefore all his belongings would eventually go to his friends upon his death. Men with a lot of money are also targeted, especially ones that people are close to and know have a lot of money. Having a lot of money makes the individual a perfect target. Greed takes control of people 's mind when their peer has reached a higher success point then themselves. However, authors such as Lisa C Tolbert argue differently. Lisa says that it wasn 't only richness that lead to murders during the antebellum era, but also race. The 1800s were a very hostile period of time for slaves. Racism was at an all time high as the pre Civil War era reigned. Slaves didn 't have a penny to their names and that is what Lisa argues in “Murder in Franklin: The Mysteries of Small-Town Slavery”. This differs my argument of richness due to the statement that slaves did not have money. According to “The Recent Tragedy” by James Gordon Bennett, he says, “She has seduced, by her beauty and blandishments, more young men than any known in the Police Records” (68). Her beauty and the money that came with her profession of prostitution made her a target. Being a prostitute enables the individual to meet many random people and not knowing who they truly are. Beauty and richness did play a huge part during the antebellum era, but so did profession. Profession tied the two together. Prostitution consisted of beauty and richness in which Ellen