<p>Lucy Worsley looks at the crimes of women from the 19th and early 20th centuries from a contemporary, feminist perspective.</p><p>In this episode, we hear the story of Cloe, a black enslaved teenager who lives with the Carothers family, Andrew, Mary and their 11 children, on their farm in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.</p><p>Cloe is worked to the bone, constantly beaten by her mistress and sneaked on by the children. Over the course of a week, she drowns two of the family’s youngest children, Lucetta and Polly. </p><p>Were Cloe’s actions those of a cold-blooded killer or an act of desperate resistance against brutal oppression? We get to hear Cloe’s motives in her own words - that she wants to heap misery on her mistress so the beatings will stop.</p><p>Lucy is joined by Dr Nikki M Taylor, Professor of African American History at Howard University in Washington DC and the author of Brooding Over Bloody Revenge: Enslaved Women’s Lethal Resistance.</p><p>Nikki travels to Simmons Creek, the site of the murders and visits the Cumberland Historical Society to find out more about Cloe’s fate.</p><p>Back in the studio, Nikki challenges the idea that enslaved women only took part in secret, non-violent forms of resistance, when they often seized justice for themselves. Cloe’s story opens a window into the lives and philosophies of enslaved women who have their own ideas about justice and how to achieve it.</p><p>Justice and humanity is denied to Cloe, but is this still happening today? And are black women still being treated unfairly by the American justice system?</p><p>Producer: Julia Hayball Readers: Moya Angela and Ruth Sillers Sound design: Chris Maclean Executive Producer: Kirsty Hunter A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4</p>