Slaves Rights in the 17th and 18th century

jpeter

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I just read an interesting comment in book on slavery which I will paraphrase here.

In the mid 1600s, when the Dutch governed and occupied the Manhattan area around New York City, they brought in a great number of black slaves.

However, many of the slaves were allowed what was known as "half-freedom". By that, we mean that the slaves were free to live away from their masters with their own lifestyles but were obligated to perform duties as requested by their masters.

Many, but not all, were under a type of conditional time-period for their masters much like the indentured servant which could be as much as 20 years or less, but had a distinct ending.

This type of slavery ended when the British took over occupation of New York in 1674. By the early 18th century, black codes and slavery laws were being written into legal tracts defining slavery, birth right, and other conditions.

Which makes me wonder what would have happened if the Dutch definitions of slavery had carried over into American law after the Revolutionary War. Even the Spanish and Portuguese were much more liberal with their laws of manumission by the 19th century. Much larger free black populations existed in the western hemisphere outside of the U.S. on the eve of the Civil War.

Just another "what if"
 
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