Black History Facts: February 13th
The Barbados Slave Code of 1661 was a law passed by the colonial legislature to provide a legal base for slavery in the Caribbean island of Barbados. The code's preamble stated that black slaves would be treated and protected just as chattel (personal property) in the island's court. Basically, slaves were to be treated as property as law.
The Barbados slave code ostensibly sought to protect slaves from cruel masters and masters from unruly slaves. However, in practice, the code provided far more extensive protections for masters than for slaves. The law required masters to provide each slave with one set of clothing per year, but it set no standards for slaves' diet, housing, or working conditions. The code also denied slaves basic rights guaranteed under English common law, such as the right to life. It allowed the slaves' owners to do entirely as they wished to their slaves, including mutilating them and burning them alive, without fear of punishment by law.
The Barbados slave code of 1661 marked the beginning of the legal codification of slavery, providing the basis for later slave codes adopted in several other British colonies, including Jamaica (1664), South Carolina (1696), and Antigua (1702).
A Barbados slave license from 1815
