The+Law+when+it+Came+to+Slavery

Slavery was a terrible, but very real part of American History. Though slavery as whole was unfair and unethical, a major part of it was caused and continued because of the laws and legal rights in America regarding slaves. Africans arriving in America began to replace white servants that farmed plantations for a living. As enslaved Africans became more popular for labor force in agriculture, many new laws emerged regarding slavery.
 * The Law When it Came to Slavery**

Many of these laws were enforced to punish slaves, instead of respecting them. The slave laws most often enforced were called "slave codes." These codes were basically a long list of very specific rules and their consequences that slaves were forced to follow. Slave Masters and Overseers, people paid to over see slaves' work, were the main authority in a slave's life. They were the one's to enforce the slave codes and give consequences to the disobedient slaves. Slave laws differed in each state but the majority of them were the slave codes mentioned above. There were other important laws also though. Many laws stated that slaves were real estate and they were to be treated that way. This basically means people were allowed to own other humans, and treat them however they wished.

Although most of the laws involving slavery just put restrictions on slaves' freedom, by the 1800's new laws were passed in Northern America allowing slaves to be treated more as servants. Slaves began to gain rights and were allowed to become free after working a set period of time, or becoming a certain age. It was similar to what we think of as retirement today. Eventually more of these laws were passed, slowly leading slavery to and end in America.

Although slavery was not technically or ethically legal under the US Constitution, people still owned slaves. Maybe it was because people looked at the slaves as property instead of another human being, or slave owners did not consider a slave equal to themselves because of their skin color or culture. In any case, slavery was a wrong use of fellow human beings. No one really knows why slavery was allowed under the Constitution, it is a question without a real answer.
 * Why was slavery allowed under the Constitution?**

There are many punishments a slave can receive when he or she does something wrong. For instance, if any slave is caught with a weapon of any kind he or she will receive 29 lashes on his or her bare back. If a slave is caught teaching another slave how to read or write he or she will receive 39 lashes on his or her bare back. They would even get punished for incorrectly sweeping the floor. Punishments were very harsh when it came to slavery. The harshest punishments were branding, tar and feathering, kicking, ducking under water, and getting put into stocks. When a slave ran away if he or she got caught the slavemaster would often hit them with paddles or cut their ear off.
 * What were some consequences for disobeying a slave law?**

These laws demonstrate the absolutely inferior status of slaves – physically, socially, and politically. Although South Carolina law allowed masters to redeem payment for lost work resulting from injuries inflicted by third parties, Virginia law allowed masters to "accidentally" kill their slaves while punishing them. Taken together, these laws only constitute a small number of the injustices against antebellum blacks. There is a severity about these laws that make it clear for slaves not to cross their masters. Envision a male slave with physical strength on his side, and then think of the fragile female slave. Although well bodied and able women did exist, the majority of the female gender had little means to fight off an attacking master. This resulted in degradation of these women by both verbal and physical abuse. Because they lacked the "power" necessary to resist, the master could torment them continually. More often, the female slave had to use her wit and charm to combat the slave institution
 * Who were some people who enforced slavery the most?**

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For more information on slavery and slave laws... [|Informationon slavery in North Carolina] [|Informationon slavery] [|Information on slavery] [|Information on slavery] [|Information on slavery] [|Information on slavery]