SLAVE LAWS IN THE CARIBBEAN

Presented By:Rashad AndrewinOctober 2nd, 2012

Summary of Topics

The Institution of Slavery in Caribbean

The British Slave Laws The French Slave Laws The Spanish Slave Laws

THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY IN THE CARIBBEAN Slavery is a relationship in which two

people are involved and is of an exploitive nature

It is not new to the Americas but it is most distinguishable during the colonial period in the Americas with the rise of African Slavery

European objective: Gold, God, Glory (3G’s)

Europeans came looking for mineral wealth but eventually turned to agriculture , mainly sugar

CONT.

Amerindians were inadequate for forced labour due to many factors working against them

New labourers were need to which the Africans fit the criteria

This lead to the formation of the Atlantic Slave Trade or the Triangular Trade that would result in the displacement of many ethnic groups from Africa to mingle in the Americas and form different races now existent

THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE

BRITISH COLONIAL EMPIRE

BRITISH COLONIAL OCCUPATION The British West Indies was organized

to produce wealth Europeans preserved their culture and

dominated all aspects of life By 1830 most blacks had no memory of

Africa and the traditions began to fail INFORMALITY WAS THE RULE The British West Indies couldn’t

develop a profound local identity

Cont.

The Caribbean colonies were small, isolated and weak

Schemes to increase white population constantly failed and led to a mostly black population

The West Indies did not have grandeur buildings to compare with other colonies in the New World

Public facilities were limited to the bare minimum

Cont.

Overland communication were deplorable, many roads were impassable

Intellectual life wasn’t esteemed for agriculture took up the time so there wasn’t accommodation for superior mental facilities

Reading was mostly restricted to the local news focused mainly on commercial topics

The cost of basic necessities were twice of what they were in England

Cont.

Slave Society was stratified in terms of occupation and origins

African were divided along lines of ethnic groups

Domestic servants and artisans formed a slave elite and were different from field slaves

The tasks of domestic slaves were light and while field slaves performed the hard relentless labour of cane cultivation

Cont.

In the West Indies social, religious and educational matters were subjugated for economic needs

There was no equality between master and slave in the British West Indies but a mutual modus operandi

BRITISH SLAVE LAWS

BRITISH SLAVE LAWS

Barbados, Antigua and Martinique were the first important slave societies of the Caribbean

By the mid 18th Century Jamaica had become the largest and most brutal slave society in the British West Indies

Slaves were supervised under demanding masters who gave them little medical care and so contracted many diseases

CONT.

Slave laws in the British empire developed slowly over centuries characterized by indecision and varying rationales on the treatment of slaves

Until 1807 there was no legislative intervention in relation to slavery therefore the common law was freely developed

The English had laws giving equality and fair treatment to its citizens as far back as the Magna Carta in 1215

CONT.

Ownership of slaves was legitimate on the grounds that they were infidels being not Christian and “uncivilized”

Slavery itself was illegal in England and so as soon as slaves entered the country they were free

By 1700 there was no extensive use of slave labour in England as in the colonies

BARBADOS SLAVE CODE

Cont.

The Code was established in 1661 to provide legal basis for slavery in Barbados

Code’s preamble: “to protect slaves as we do men’s other Goods and Chattels “

It sought to protect slaves ostensibly from cruel masters and vice versa

However it provided far more extensive protection for masters

Law required masters to provide slaves with one set of clothing per year

Cont.

It didn’t however set standards for the slave’s diet, housing or working conditions

Also denied basic rights such as right to life, allowing slave masters to do whatever they pleased to the slave

This slave code also served as the basis for slave codes in Jamaica (1664) and Antigua (1702)

FRENCH COLONIAL EMPIRE

CODE NOIR

Was a decree originally passed by King Louis XIV in 1685

Defined conditions of slavery in the French colonial empire

The document is said to contain 60 different articles governing French Colonial life.

It asserted French sovereignty and secured the future of the sugar industry

Was largely influenced by religious morals by the arrival of Catholic leaders in Martinique

Was applied to the West Indies in 1687 and in Canadian New France

CODE NOIR

Comprise of two main section, the disability and the beneficent section

All laws were to keep slaves in their rightful place, to squelch uprisings and rebellions and to make slave completely dependent on the master

IMPORTANT ARTICLES IN CODE NOIR Jews could not reside in the French colonies slaves must be baptized in the 

Roman Catholic Church children born between married slaves were

also slaves, belonging to the female slave's master

slaves must not carry weapons except under permission of their masters for hunting purposes

slaves belonging to different masters must not gather at any time under any circumstance

Cont.

slaves should not sell sugar cane, even with permission of their masters

masters must give food (quantities specified) and clothes to their slaves, even to those who were sick or old

free blacks who harbour fugitive slaves would be beaten by the slave owner and fined 300 pounds of sugar per day of refuge given

masters may chain and beat slaves but may not torture nor mutilate them

slave husband and wife (and their prepubescent children) under the same master were not to be sold separately 

SPANISH COLONIAL EMPIRE

SPANISH COLONIAL EMPIRE

Slavery in the Spanish colonies began with settlers enslaving local indigenous people

They used slavery and production quotas to force labour to bring return on colonial investments

Slavery production quotas= ENCOMIENDA, REPARTIMIENTO, REDUCCIONES

During the first decades slavery caused the deaths of thousands of indigenous people

CONT.

After pressure from clerical influences mandated the protection of the native people, enslavement of the population began to dissolve

Moves to protect Amerindians: LAWS OF BURGOS, THE NEW LAWS, THE LAWS OF THE INDIES

After the freeing of indigenous populations the Spanish began importing African slaves, buying them off the British and Dutch traders

CONT.

Mainland slavery in the Spanish colonies ended in the 18th century but not in Cuba and Puerto Rico where sugar was still highly profitable

LAS SIETE PARTIDAS

LAS SIETE PARTIDAS

Was a Castilian statutory code which established a body of normative rules for the kingdom

Originally called Libro de los Leyes not until 14th century was called Siete Partidas

Its influence extended to the Latin American colonies

Has been described as humanist encyclopaedia, containing philosophical, moral and theological topics including view points of the Abraham religions

CONT.

The Fourth Partida contains the information on slavery The fourth partida consists of 27 articles comprising 256 laws.

Its subject is family law, as well as other permanent relationships between people, other than matrimony and biological kinship.It deals with engagement (4,1,2); matrimony (4,2,1) and the capacity, form, and validity of the canon law to which it is subject; divorce (which does not refer to the dissolution of the matrimonial bond, but rather with separation or the cessation of cohabitation); legitimate and illegitimate patrimony (4,14,1); parens patriae (the rights of the state to intervene in the interests of minor children); slavery (4,23,8), described as the "vilest thing in this world" after sin itself; the civil status of persons (free and slave; noble and commoner; clergy and laity; legitimate and illegitimate; Christian, Moor, and Jew; male and female); serfdom and fiefs; and the bonds of friendship.

slavery (4,23,8), is described as the "vilest thing in this world" after sin itself