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Introduction
From paid workers to inatimate objects, this timeline follows the the slaves of Colonial America as they slowy but surely lose everything. Slave Laws were passed one by one, but they didn't concern many people because of the way they were set up. Although they may seem cruel to our modern society, people of the time got used to them slowy. The first law didnt do much, it just took away their guns, but it prevented them from rebelling to other laws. -
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Diminishing Progress of Anthony Johnson and Slave Laws
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Anthony Johnson acquires land
Siete Partitas LawsAnthony Johnson, a free African, owns land in Northhampton County, Virginia. After arriving on a slave trading boat in 1621, he worked on the Bennet plantation for twenty years before he recieves land from Captian Taylor. He paurchased the land by raising his own catle, as that was legal for some slaves to do this through the Siete patitas laws (see link for more info) -
Anthony Acquires Land Part 2
This probably seems strange to you that an African owns land, because of the common knowledge that Africans were enslaved during this time period. The unknown part of this information is that it wasn't always this way for everyone. In fact, in the earlier stages of slavery, everyone got realeased from bondage at some point. They could earn money and buy land, so it wasn't impossible to own land. -
Anthony Johnson Wins the Court Case
Anthony Johnson wins a court case against a white landowner. They had previously gone to court about a slave Anthony owned and the white man won the slave, but Anothony won him back. Can you imagine that? An African winning in court against a white male landowner. It's even more unusual because it is about who owns a slave. That's right. A former slave is now a slaveowner! This really shows how Anthony gained power. -
Casual killing of slaves
This law said that if while punishing a slave, a master kills the slave, they do not have to go to court. The reasoning behind thid law was that the landowners wouldn"t purposely kill their own slaves; that would be causing property destruction for themselves. This was the first drastic law that impacted the slaves. They were considered property at that point, and didnt even get a trail for their death. The reason this law was important for land owners is because of a law passed earlier. -
Causal Killing of Slaves Part Two
The law that set the foundation for this law was the Baptism Cannot Exempt From Bondage law. Before that law was passed, slaveowners could punish disobedient slaves by adding time to their servitude. That punishment option was destroyed when all slaves had to serve for life. This promoted whipping, which became the primary punishment for slaves who defied their master. It wasn't that unusual to die from it either. With blood loss, raging infections, and weakened sytsems, whipping victims -
Casual Killing of Slaves Part Three
With blood loss, raging infections, and weakened sytsems, whipping victims had a lot to deal with. -
Baptism Doesn't Exepmt Slaves from Bondage
Previously, when slaves get baptized, they earned their freedom. This was because of the values of Christianty. When this law was passed, it prevented any more slaves from becoming free. The aw makers were all white landowners,as this automatically made them more powerful. They were losing slaves fast, and they had to keep purchasing new ones. This law create a permanemt wrkforce for the slave owners. -
Hog Stealing
This was the law that went against our county"s morals the most. It resorted to torture. The lawmakers wanted to end the theivery of hogs. This problem was created by the fact that slaves could no longer be legally free. When they ran away, they couldnt buy fod, so they had to steal it. Also, slaves who didn't run away also stole the pigs from their masters. The Casual Killing of Slaves law let slave owners underfeed their slaves. -
Hog Stealing part two
Desperate from hunger, the slaves would steal their owner's livestock. The lawmakers faced this problem in a very aggresive way. The new law said that if any slaves were caught stealing hogs, they would be totured! Thier ears would be nailed to posts and the would have to stand there. -
Interested? More Info Here!
More Info <==Go Here ofr more information on Anthony Johnson and diminishing progress. -
Conclusion
Obviously, a systematic passing of laws can do a lot. The laws that caused slavery started small, but they ended up causing suffering, chaos, and even a war! There is no question aboust that. The real question is more important. If you are faced with a small situation that doesnt seem right to you, will you do the right thing? Will you prevent another group of people from getting hurt? I ask you to do just one thing after reading this timeline. Don't let Diminishing progress happen again.
