| Frontispiece of the Code Noir (1743) - courtesy Wikimedia Commons "Free Woman of Color With Quadroon Daughter," New Orleans, late 1700s - courtesy Wikimedia Commons “If any person … shall willfully murder his own slave, or the slave of any other person, every such person shall … forfeit and pay [£700] … And if any person shall, on sudden heat or passion, or by undue correction, kill his own slave … he shall forfeit [£350] … And in case any person … shall willfully cut out the tongue, put out the eye, castrate, or cruelly scald, burn, or deprive any slave of any limb or member, or shall inflict any other cruel punishment, other than by whipping or beating … or by putting irons on, or confining or imprisoning such slave, shall forfeit [£100].” – South Carolina Slave Code (1740), Art. 37 "The master has full power over his slave to do with him what he pleases. Nevertheless he can neither kill or wound him, notwithstanding the slave may deserve it, unless he does it under the orders of the judge of the place: nor ought he to strike him in an unnatural and cruel manner.” – Las Siete Partidas (Partida 4th, Title 21, Law 6) “The masters may also, when they believe that their slaves so deserve, chain them and have them beaten with rods or straps. They shall be forbidden however from torturing them or mutilating an limb, at the risk of having the slaves confiscated and having extraordinary charges brought against them. … We enjoin our officers to criminally prosecute the masters, or their foreman, who have killed a slave … and to punish the master according to the circumstances.” – Code Noir (Articles 42-43) “Whereas, it has been the humane policy of all civilized nations, where slavery has been permitted, to protect this useful but degraded class of men, from extreme cruelty, and oppression … no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted on any slave with this Territory,” – Sargent’s Code (Mississippi/Alabama, 1798) |
EMPIRE OF LAWS - The Legal History of the 50 American States > 6. DEEP SOUTH LEGAL HISTORY > 6.1 Deep South: Colonial Crossroads, New Nation (1670-1803) > 6.1.1 Deep South (1670-1803): The Civil Law Tradition >