The United States Institution of Enslavement
In the United States, slavery was the legalized institution of Africans and African-Americans chattel of enslavement that occurred in the U.S. of America until the enactment of the 13th Amendment from the start of the nation in 1776. From the early colonial period, slavery had been done in British America and was enacted through laws in all thirteen states and during that period those states formed the United States. Enslaved persons in the institution were treated as property under the law and could be purchased, given away, and sold. In the United States, slavery lasted for a long period up to 1865. It was practiced in that institution as an economic system but greatly affected one area of a person’s life. Enslaved people suffered untaught in the institution because the enslavement laws did not favor their existence as normal human beings. For instance, on enslave, ships African women suffered from sexual harassment from the European men. The slaves suffered from poor diets as they fed two times a day. The slaves in the institution under enacted laws suffered from kidnapping, high mortality, and exhaustion.
In Virginia’s history, there were no laws concerning slavery in the institutions. A Virginia court in 1640 sentenced an African called John Punch to slavery after he tried to flee his service. This action led to the initial law sanctioning of slavery in English states and was among the first law distinction enacted between Africans and Europeans (Patterson & Shuttleworth, 2020). The first enslavement law from the timeline in the United States institution of enslavement was Massachusetts law enacted in 1652. It was a law that needed all indigenous American servant and African American to pass through the military exercise to be capable to assist safeguard the colony. The law was passed in 1641 and provided legal sanctions to specific types of slavery. According to this law, they could never be nay tie villinage, slaverie, or captivitie. In Massachusetts, the slave population was under 2,000 by 1715, 550 in 1708, and 200 in 1676 (Sutton, 2017). In addition, Sutton (2017) argued that slaves accounted for 2.3% of the entire population up to 1764 which was the highest rate from 1755 their lowest rate. After the Massachusetts Constitution underwent into effect in 1780, slavery was allowed in the Commonwealth (Patterson & Shuttleworth, 2020). It was during this era when many laws were enacted controlling marriage and movement among slaves, and residents in Massachusetts actively got engaged in the slave trade. Generally, the legislature in Massachusetts enacts a law that inhibits European Americans from engaging in commerce or trade with African Americans.
Another law form the timeline in 1663 is Maryland slave laws that authorized that all Africa-Americans arriving in the state are guessed to be enslaved. Marrying enslaved men would make European American women lose their liberty. Children of enslaved men and European American women were enslaved (Patterson & Shuttleworth, 2020; Craemer et al., 2020). Similar laws were developed in other colonies of North American. Slavery as it is known, in Maryland was established in 1634 during settlement. Despite there were incidences of slavery in the state most mullatos and Africans alongside people of mixed race, were taken as indentured workers who could act for their liberty. Around the world when people started to require more tobacco, more workers were required to plant it in the plantations (Craemer et al., 2020; Jung, 2019). Maryland laws were passed in 1664 making African-American and their children slaves for their life. Slaves were taken as property, and they were sold and bought just as a commodity in a trade. According to the law they had if any rights they had few (Sutton, 2017). Disparate skilled slaves, older and unskilled slaves were not preferred valuable and owners needed to exchange them. In the mid-1860s, this was a very significant factor because the federal government and Mary’s land were about to free the slaves. Therefore, as a result of Maryland law in 1664, African Americans alongside their children were enslaved. They were all taken as property and they were sold and bought just like any other commodity such as land. Maryland comes up with life enslavement for an individual of African ancestry.
Moreover, the United States institution of enslavement Runaway Slave Law was enacted by the Virginia House of Burgesses making it against the law to murder a runaway during the period of apprehension. The law was passed in September 1850 and required slaves to be returned to their owners regardless of where they are even if in a Free State (Jung, 2019). The act also enacted the federal government accountable for returning, finding, and trying slaves who had escaped (Craemer et al., 2020). The law was passed by Congress in the United States. The law required the government in the United States to help slaveholders actively in recapturing liberty seekers. Under the constitution in the United States, slaveholders were entitled right to get back slaves who escaped to Free States (Sutton, 2017; Jung, 2019). This law was opposed by Northern abolitionists. United States institution of enslavement debated the enactment. The Abolitionist wanted the law to guarantee African Americans the right to trial by jury and right to testify. The law legislators ignored and argued that African Americans were not citizens in the United States. The law favored slave dealers but affected the personal life of slaves.
There is also English law that also affects one area of a person’s life. The law from Virginia court presumes that a child follows a father’s status, and passes a law that makes the enslaved or free status of children rely on the status of the mother. The commerce with Africa, constituting the commerce in slaves, meant much state legislation to regulate the trade. Initially, this law was to restrict the trade to definite merchants and companies (Craemer et al., 2020; Jung, 2019). Later, this law was to improve the situations of the enslaved Africans in the ships passing the Atlantic. British Law allowed the exchange of slaves as commodities.
In conclusion, the United States institution of enslavement was an inhumane and affected area of a person’s life. Under various historical timelines, laws were enacted such as Massachusetts law, Maryland slave laws, Runaway Slave Law, and English Law/British law. The enslaved slaves suffered untaught in the institution because the enslavement laws did not favor their existence as normal human beings. For instance, on enslave, ships African women suffered from sexual harassment from the European men. The people’s lives were negatively affected because they were unethically handled and they have not entitled any rights as normal human beings. African Americans were not allowed to engage in activities that could enlighten them. the laws in the institutions of enslavement were enacted in a way that they could not allow Black Americans to access any rights.