Slavery, Inhumane Slave Codes, 1860

Print shows a scene on common or park grounds where a slave is being executed by hanging before a group of soldiers; on the left, a man driving a wagon passes, and in the distance are a public well and large buildings and stables. Slave Codes were sets of laws during the colonial period and in individual states after the American Revolution which defined the status of slaves and the rights and responsibilities of slave owners. In the deep south these codes were exceptionally cruel. Any slave attempting to run away and leave the colony (later the state) receives the death penalty. Any slave who evades capture for 20 days or more is to be publicly whipped for the first offense, branded with the letter R on the right cheek for the second offense, and lose one ear if absent for 30 days for the third offense, and castrated for the fourth offense. A runaway slave refusing to surrender could be killed without penalty. Lithograph by George Hayward, 1860

Restrictions Only for Ireland and United Kingdom

Chattel Codes Cruel Cruelty Execute Executed Executing Infamous Inhumane Inhumanity Negro Negroes Noose Notorious Punish Punishing Scarred Seventeeth Transatlantic Triangular

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