Code Noir a French code for slavery was followed by masters of slaves during the late 1600’s. Masters of slaves followed the Virginia Slave Code in the early 1700’s. Both codes gave slave owners a code to follow similar to a manual of do’s and don’ts with punishments.
In the Code Noir or The Black Code a slave was defined as a person who was Negro. “The legal status would be that the French would be informed of the slaves to have authority and our justice in order to maintain the discipline of the Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic faith in the islands (Code Nior).” It also stated that it was in the best interest of the slaves to become Christian and baptized by the Catholic Church but that Jews were to leave France under force if necessary. …show more content…
“That all servants imported and brought into this country, by sea or land, who were not Christians in their native country, Shall be accounted and be slaves, and as such be here bought and sold notwithstanding a conversion to Christianity afterwards” (Virginia Slave Code). This pretty much stated that any black person who was servant was a slave. Even if a person was close to being freed this new code rewrote all slaves rights in this English code. This also included children of slaves and how they would be treated. Servant’s children were part of what the French included in the Code Noir. The Virginia Slave Act also included punishments for slaves not following the code. The Code Noir also included punishments for not following the code. Both talked about death being a punishment for some acts going against …show more content…
Masters would tell slaves what they wanted to and to gain control of the slaves. Even though the codes were in writing and the masters knew that they needed to follow the codes many times they would not follow the codes and treat the slaves any way they wanted.
Similarities with the two codes were the disregard for life for slaves. They both seemed to not look at the way slaves were treated. They were not equal to non-slaves and both codes wrote that there would be strong punishments even death. Masters did not have the same punishments with death being a punishment for cruel or unusual behavior to slaves.
Code Noir did have articles that stated that there could be freedoms where slaves would be part of society eventually, but not as slaves but free. The Virginia Slave Code was much shorter and did not state as much for slaves as far as freedoms. Both codes showed that slavery was needed in the Americas and that two countries controlled the behavior of masters and
In the Code Noir or The Black Code a slave was defined as a person who was Negro. “The legal status would be that the French would be informed of the slaves to have authority and our justice in order to maintain the discipline of the Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic faith in the islands (Code Nior).” It also stated that it was in the best interest of the slaves to become Christian and baptized by the Catholic Church but that Jews were to leave France under force if necessary. …show more content…
“That all servants imported and brought into this country, by sea or land, who were not Christians in their native country, Shall be accounted and be slaves, and as such be here bought and sold notwithstanding a conversion to Christianity afterwards” (Virginia Slave Code). This pretty much stated that any black person who was servant was a slave. Even if a person was close to being freed this new code rewrote all slaves rights in this English code. This also included children of slaves and how they would be treated. Servant’s children were part of what the French included in the Code Noir. The Virginia Slave Act also included punishments for slaves not following the code. The Code Noir also included punishments for not following the code. Both talked about death being a punishment for some acts going against …show more content…
Masters would tell slaves what they wanted to and to gain control of the slaves. Even though the codes were in writing and the masters knew that they needed to follow the codes many times they would not follow the codes and treat the slaves any way they wanted.
Similarities with the two codes were the disregard for life for slaves. They both seemed to not look at the way slaves were treated. They were not equal to non-slaves and both codes wrote that there would be strong punishments even death. Masters did not have the same punishments with death being a punishment for cruel or unusual behavior to slaves.
Code Noir did have articles that stated that there could be freedoms where slaves would be part of society eventually, but not as slaves but free. The Virginia Slave Code was much shorter and did not state as much for slaves as far as freedoms. Both codes showed that slavery was needed in the Americas and that two countries controlled the behavior of masters and