What Are The Similarities Between The Barbados Slave Code And The Barbad Slave Code

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Thomas Bender reminds us in his book A Nation Among Nations, to search for all of the information before we make a decision on the history we have written. American or U.S. history cannot be understood completely without putting it into a global context first. Two documents we can draw information from that would support Bender’s thesis are the Virginia Slave Codes enacted in 1705 and The Barbados Slave Code written in 1688. These two documents bring perspective to the strides that were made toward slavery and how they affected America. The slavery that ran throughout the world began as common practice then was later made law. The Barbados Slave Code was law passed in the Caribbean island of Barbados to provide something of a basis for slavery. The codes were written to benefit both slaves and their owners but it is apparent that the slaves were not benefitting from them in the slightest. The reality is that the only “benefit” the slaves received was a set of clothing for that year. The treatment of slaves was dependent on their master or owner. The codes stated that, “it shall be lawfull for all Masters, Overseers, and other Persons whatsoever, to apprehend and take up …show more content…

Both went through a series of revisions before they became law. Both give instructions to the multitude of things slaves were stripped of and the heinous reasoning behind them. Slaves were nothing but tools for their owners. Slaves were dispensable and lacked the skin color to be treated fairly. Slave owners could do with their slaves as they pleased and had little to no regulation on what they allowed them to have. Both documents state on various occasions that the owners had the final say in what happened to their slave. And if a white man came across another mans Negro slave away from his plantation, the white man had the right to reprimand the slave however he saw

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