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Virginia Slave Code
This new slave code was adopted by Virginia in 1705. It said that any person coming into the country who were not Christians in their native country would count as slaves. -
South Carolina Slave Code
South Carolina's slave code included laws against teaching slaves to read, and it also included different levels of offences. Different punishments would be inflicted depending on the level of the crime committed. For example, escaping and evading capture for 20 days was an extremely high-level crime. -
Georgia adopts South Carolina's slave codes
Georgia adopts South Carolina's slave code, which states that slaves are forbidden from learning how to read and running away. It also states various punishments depending on the crime comitted. There are also laws about how the slaves were not allowed to have any money or to keep any of their owners' possesions without their permission -
Missouri Compromise
Missouri was let into the Union as a slave state. From then on, all states that fell below the 36th parallel would be slave states, and all the states that were north of the 36th parallel would be free states. -
Alabama passes a slave code against teaching slaves how to read
Alabama passed their slave code against reading or teaching a slave how to read. This code punished anyone who was caught teaching their slaves how to read, and any slaves who could read. This also kept slaves from writing anything for themselves or for anyone else. -
Fugitive Slave Act Passed
Congressed passed this law that required that all states (whether they are slave states or not) must return any escaped slaves to their masters. This was part of the compromise of 1850. Abolitionists in the North protested this law, and nicknamed it the "Bloodhound Law". -
Compromise of 1850
This allowed all of the new territories (New Mexico, Navada, Utah, Arizona, and California) to enter the Union as free states. To compensate for the uneven number of slave states vs. free states, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. -
13th Amendment
This amendment to the constitution abolished all slavery in the United States. Any instance where there was someone who was serving without payment was illegal unless they had comitted a crime. -
14th Amendment
This amendment to the constitution granted citizenship to anyone who was born in the United States and was male. This included former slaves. This meant that blacks were entitled to Life, Liberty, The Persuit of Happiness, and all of the other basic rights in the constitution. -
15th Amendment
This amendment to the constitution allowed black males to vote. This law technically gave all black males equal rights as white males, but there was still segregation and inequality until the 1900's.
