⋆˚࿔ i was born to join in love ⋆˚

“The Southern colonies were more agrarian, less compact, and more homogeneous than the colonies of the Northeast. The primary threat to public safety in the South -at least in the minds of whites- was the possibility of slave revolts. As a result, the first real organized policing systems in America arguably began in the South with slave patrols. The patrols were armed and uniformed, and typically had broad powers to arrest, search, and detain slaves. The slave patrols’ main responsibilities were to guard against rebellions and to look for escaped slaves. They had the power to enter slave quarters at will, whether or not they had permission from the slaves’ owner. They could even enforce some laws against plantation owners, such as laws prohibiting the education of slaves. By the middle of the eighteenth century, every Southern colony had passed laws formalizing slave patrols. It became the primary policing system in the South. In many jurisdictions -most notably Charleston, South Carolina- slave patrols would eventually morph into the official police force.”