Slave Codes: Crash Course Black American History #4 - Free Educational videos for Students in K-12

Slave Codes: Crash Course Black American History #4 - By CrashCourse

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00:0-1	Hi , I'm clint smith and this is crash course
00:02	Black american history . There are all sorts of ways
00:04	that societies restrict people's movement . For example , people
00:08	can put gates and fences around their homes and communities
00:12	or their traffic cones that tell us where we can
00:15	and can't drive even though sometimes I might accidentally run
00:19	over them . I'm working on it . But some
00:22	methods that society uses to restrict the movements of people
00:26	are far more sinister , far more serious and based
00:30	on distorted beliefs , have no sincere interest in the
00:33	safety of those people . What I'm thinking of in
00:37	this case or something called slave codes . Slave codes
00:40	were based on the belief that black americans were just
00:43	an economic investment . They were purposefully designed to condone
00:47	harming black americans , keeping them enslaved . There are
00:51	some textbooks on slavery and slave codes referred to enslave
00:54	people simply as workers . They were not simply workers
01:00	, They were treated as an underclass and the legal
01:02	system perpetuated that underclass status for economic and prejudicial reasons
01:08	. Learning about slave codes makes all of this profoundly
01:11	clear . Yeah , Slave codes were laws and policies
01:23	developed during the colonial period to restrict the movement and
01:26	freedoms of black people though they were called slave codes
01:30	. Many times they were applied to free black people
01:32	as well remember that the distinction between negro and enslaved
01:38	was essentially meaningless during this time . The primary reason
01:41	the slave codes were implemented was to explicitly and legally
01:45	reinforce the racial hierarchy within the colonies . Slave codes
01:49	, we're a method of protecting the investment of white
01:51	slavers by restricting the lives of enslaved people in almost
01:55	every imaginable way . The codes restricted enslaved people's ability
02:00	to move around or engage in commerce that would make
02:03	them financially independent . They basically restricted the very opportunities
02:08	that would allow them to live with even relative freedom
02:11	. When there were hints of enslaved people questioning their
02:13	status or even the possibility of someone planning a revolt
02:18	, New slave codes were quickly passed . To prevent
02:20	such a thing from happening . Virginia was the first
02:23	of the 13 colonies to implement large scale state code
02:26	, since the United States was not quite the United
02:29	States . Yet , each colony had their own version
02:32	of these codes at the time . They were not
02:34	yet even referred to as slave codes , but even
02:38	without the formal title , their purpose remained the same
02:41	to fundamentally restrict the rights of black americans , free
02:44	and enslaved and to explicitly deny them the rights afforded
02:48	to white members of society . Let's take a look
02:50	at an example . In 1662 , Virginia passed this
02:54	statute , whereas some doubts have arisen whether Children got
02:58	by any englishman upon a negro woman should be slave
03:01	or free , be it , therefore enacted and declared
03:04	by this present grand assembly , that all Children born
03:07	in this country shall be held bond or free only
03:10	according to the condition of the mother . And that
03:13	if any christian shall commit fornication with a negro man
03:15	or woman , he or she so offending shall pay
03:19	double the fines imposed by the former act . After
03:22	Elizabeth Keyes case in 16 56 which we talked about
03:25	last episode , the Virginia House of Burgesses passed this
03:29	official law . It mandated what's known as part as
03:32	secret adventure , um determining one's in slave status based
03:36	on their mothers . Labor status as the legal method
03:38	to determine whether an individual is enslaved or not .
03:42	Some scholars , such as jennifer L . Morgan posit
03:45	that it was actually keys freedom suit that drove the
03:48	Virginia House of Burgesses to create this law in the
03:50	first place . A law that was also designed to
03:53	discourage intimate interracial relations between black and white people and
03:57	the colonies . Virginia didn't just stop there . In
04:00	1705 , Virginia passed another law dedicated to regulating the
04:04	movement and behavior of enslaved people . It was called
04:08	an act concerning servants and slaves . This act banned
04:12	black people from owning white servants and penalize those who
04:15	presided over the marriage between a white and black person
04:19	. It banned enslaved people from owning weapons . Other
04:22	laws around the same time . Then black people ,
04:25	regardless of their servitude status , from testifying against whites
04:29	in court , you might think that in a country
04:31	where those same colonists would soon be demanding freedom while
04:34	espousing the importance of liberty and equality for themselves ,
04:38	that those same people would be a bit more ,
04:41	I don't know , concerned about liberty and equality for
04:45	everyone . But the truth is , America's promise and
04:49	America's actions are very often inconsistent . Let's go to
04:53	the thought bubble . In 1671 , Maryland passed a
04:57	law stating that even if an enslaved person converted to
05:00	Christianity , that conversion did not change their servitude status
05:05	. This was important because of the legal debate around
05:07	whether christians could be enslaved in a place like south
05:10	Carolina . Well , they built a whole society around
05:13	slave codes . They didn't as they all did for
05:16	both economic and societal reasons . These codes band black
05:20	people from engaging in any type of trade , did
05:23	not allow for enslaved folks to travel without notes from
05:25	their own slaver . Band enslaved black americans from keeping
05:29	loud instruments like drums and horns and gave law enforcement
05:32	the authority to search enslaved black people and to whip
05:36	them if they appeared to be engaging in what was
05:38	deemed disorderly behavior . Many of these codes showed up
05:42	after slave rebellions when slavers were particularly interested in protecting
05:46	themselves and their property from enslaved people who wanted their
05:49	freedom . And slave codes weren't just in the southern
05:52	colonies . New york , for example , had their
05:55	own set of these laws . A 1702 Slave code
05:58	in New York ban people from trading with enslaved people
06:02	at all . It also prohibited three or more enslaved
06:05	people from meeting together at the same time from 1703
06:08	to 1704 . Rhode Island band the enslaved from being
06:12	out after 9:00 at night unless they had what was
06:15	deemed a lawful excuse Pennsylvania . They also had infamous
06:19	slave codes , punishment for offenses committed by white and
06:22	black people could be deeply and even lethal . E
06:25	unequal while a certain offense committed by a white person
06:28	might result with them being whipped or Brandon , a
06:31	black person charged with committing a similar offense might be
06:35	killed . Okay , thanks Thought bubble . White colonists
06:38	worked overtime to make sure that the law was used
06:41	to hurt and constrain black americans just because the color
06:44	of their skin and their place in the american economy
06:47	in early colonial history , white indentured servants and enslaved
06:51	black people actually had somewhat similar positions in society .
06:55	But as we've seen in this episode , that wouldn't
06:58	last colonial governments created specific laws that would clearly and
07:02	legally demarcate what rights a white person could have and
07:06	which rights a black person could have , or perhaps
07:09	more appropriately , which rights they couldn't have . I'm
07:12	sure that many people look at these laws and are
07:15	appalled that such things ever passed . But it's important
07:18	to note that while today's , such discrimination might not
07:21	be explicitly stated in the language of the law itself
07:24	, laws across the country have different implications and are
07:27	often enforced differently based on someone's race . This impacts
07:31	jobs and housing and our criminal legal system . Our
07:34	schools , the list goes on . Looking back .
07:38	It can be hard to stomach that our country ever
07:40	implemented these horrific slave codes . But it's important to
07:43	note that , as is the case throughout black american
07:46	history , people pushed back against these laws because they
07:50	knew they were wrong . Later in the series ,
07:53	we're going to learn about the myriad ways that black
07:55	people have resisted these injustices over time . Thanks for
07:59	watching . I'll see you next time . Crash course
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08:04	and our animation team is thought catholic . Crash course
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