Name Billy Billy | ||
Billy, also known as Will and William, was an African-American slave charged with treason during the American Revolution. The case received attention because it asserted that because Billy was a slave, that he was not a citizen of Virginia and as such, could not commit treason.
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Pre-trial life
Very little is concretely known about Billy's life aside from his trial. He was likely born around 1754 and historians believe that he is possibly the same Billy that was owned by the wealthy planter John Tayloe II,[1] who had one of his employees place an advertisement about a runaway "mulatto" in 1774. In the advertisement Tayloe's employee stated that Billy was a runaway slave and apart from being an extremely skilled worker, he was also capable of gaining "the good Graces of almost every Body who will listen." Historian Lathan A. Windley believes that during this time Billy purchased a forged pass with the intent to travel to another state and gain freedom.
Trial
On April 2, 1781 Billy was indicted by the Prince William County Court for committing treasonous acts against Virginia. Billy had been charged with joining the British forces aboard an armed vessel with the intent to fight against the colonies during the American Revolutionary War. This was not an uncommon accusation during this time period, as many slaves had been promised their freedom in return for fighting for the British, however Billy argued that he had been forced on to the ship and that he had never taken up arms. Despite this, Billy was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging.
Two of the jury members, Henry Lee II and William Carr, along with Mann Page, argued against Billy's death sentence and wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson, then Governor of Virginia, for clemency. Lee and Carr felt that a slave "not being Admitted to the Priviledges of a Citizen owes the State No Allegiance and that the Act declaring what shall be treason cannot be intended by the Legislature to include slaves who have neither lands or other property to forfiet." Their actions proved to be successful, as Jefferson granted Billy a temporary reprieve and Billy was officially pardoned by the legislature on June 14. Nothing was written of what happened to Billy after he was pardoned.
Later reception
Lee and Carr's argument was one that contrasted starkly against previous, similar cases of slaves committing treason. Historians H. J. Eckenrode and Philip J. Schwarz commented on the decision, with Eckenrode writing that this "was a new doctrine, fruit of Revolutionary humanitarianism" and Schwartz stating that "His case was doubly ironic. A slave, he was nevertheless tried for disobeying one of the laws of the commonwealth. Excluded from the protections conferred by citizenship, he was still shielded from execution because Virginia's law of treason could not logically apply to him."