Indictment for Treason for the Christiana Riot Participants

The indictment lists numerous defendants, Castner Hanaway being among them. The grand jury inquest stated that the defendants actions in the Christiana Riot showed that they meant “to disturb, and to prevent the execution of the laws” of the United States in the collection of “persons escaping from the service of their masters”. The indictment further stated that the defendants and others were “armed and arrayed in a war-like manner…against the United States”. Some say this event foretold the onset of the Civil War. The accounts of the incident state that more than a hundred individuals gathered to prevent the arrest of fugitive slaves, Josh Hammond and Nelson Ford. One hundred and seventeen indictments were handed down, making this the largest mass indictment for treason in our nation’s history.