ABSTRACT
In1736theslavesofAntigua,WestIndies,conspiredtomurdertheir mastersandtoestablishakingdom.Therebellionwastobeginon theeveofacelebrationofKingGeorgeIl'scoronation,butthefestivitieswerepostponed,andintheinterimtheplotwasdiscovered.Greatly alarmed,thecolonistsengagedinapublicdisplayofthemeaningand consequencesoflawandjusticeinaslavesociety:theyestablisheda courttoinvestigatethematter.Overthenextseveralmonths,judges interrogatedagreatnumberofwitnessesandexecutedeighty-eight rebels,sentencingthemtogruesomedeathsonthewheel,bygibbeting, orbyburning(Gaspar1985:29).1
