The court also had assumed that it was
irrational for a man to destroy his own property, and, therefore,
it was impossible for a master to commit premeditated murder
against one of his own slaves.
However, in South America the court exercised much more
Jurisdiction over the slave. Crimes committed by a slave were
prosecuted by the court, and, if a slave was murdered, this case
was prosecuted by the court as if the victim had been a free man.
The law also made a more concerted attempt to protect the slave
against mistreatment by his master. A certain type of state
lawyer was an official protector of the slaves; he received
regular reports on slave conditions from priests as well as from
special investigative officials who had been appointed by the
state for this purpose. Mistreatment could lead both to the
freedom of the slave and to the imprisoning of the master. The
law had devised an ingenious system whereby the fine was divided
equally between the judge, the informer, and the state treasury.
Finally, the slave in North America could not own property and
had absolutely no civil rights.
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