"Page 1 of the South Carolina Negro Act"-Courtesy teachingushistory.com
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Limiting Slave Rights
_ After the Stono Rebellion, colonists created laws to dwindle slave rights and gradually slaves were stripped of all rights. These laws were created for economic preservation and individual well-being in response to increasing escapes. Essentially, Fort Mose's existence initiated the revision of the "terms of bondage" to the slaveholder's advantage.
Timeline of Events
1740: South Carolina Negro Act | "WHEREAS, in his Majesty's plantations in America, slavery has been introduced and allowed,and the people commonly called negroes, indians, mulattoes, and mustizoes, have been deemed absolute slaves, and the subjects of property in the hands of particular persons, the extent of whose power ought to be settled and limited by positive laws, so that the slave may be kept in due subjection and obedience, and the owners and other persons having the care and government of slaves may be restrained from exercising too great rigour and cruelty over them and that the public peace and order of this Province may be preserved"-South Carolina Negro Act of 1740 |
1755: Georgia Slave Code | "Although it was anticipated that the ticket system and the other restrictions imposed on slave mobility would limit the opportunities for successful escape, the authors of the slave code took additional steps in an attempt to counter the Spanish threat."-Betty Wood 120 (Slavery in Colonial Georgia, 1730-1755) |
1829: Georgia Literacy Law | "Following the appearance of David Walker's Appeal in 1829, a law was adopted forbidding the teaching of blacks. If a black taught, he was to be fined $500 and whipped. White teachers of blacks were to be fined and jailed...Sometimes a slave, caught in the act of reading or writing would have a finger or thumb cut off."-D. Grant and J. Grant 62 (The Way it Was in the south: the Black Experience in Georgia) |
1850: Fugitive Slave Act | "SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the commissioners above named shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the judges of the Circuit and District Courts of the United States, in their respective circuits and districts within the several States, and the judges of the Superior Courts of the Territories, severally and collectively, in term-time and vacation; shall grant certificates to such claimants, upon satisfactory proof being made, with authority to take and remove such fugitives from service or labor, under the restrictions herein contained, to the State or Territory from which such persons may have escaped or fled." -Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 | 1857: Dred Scott Decision | "A free negro of the African race, whose ancestors were brought to this country and sold as slaves, is not a "citizen" within the meaning of the Constitution of the United States."-Transcript of Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) |