Slave codes

Article summary

The slave codes were laws relating to slavery and enslaved people, specifically regarding the Atlantic slave trade and chattel slavery in the Americas. Most slave codes were concerned with the rights and duties of free people in regard to enslaved people. Slave codes left a great deal unsaid, with much of the actual practice of slavery being a matter of traditions rather than formal law. The primary colonial powers all had slightly different slave codes. French colonies, after 1685, had the Code Noir specifically for this purpose. The Spanish had some laws regarding slavery in Las Siete Partidas, a far older law that was not designed for the slave societies of the Americas. English colonies largely had their own local slave codes, mostly based on the codes of either the colonies of Barbados or Virginia. In addition to these national and state- or colony-level slave codes, there were city ordinances and other local restrictions regarding enslaved people.

Key claims

1. date of establishment: 1775 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
2. date of establishment: 1661 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the date of establishment is "1775". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the date of establishment is "1661". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
5. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1339479838