Laws of Enslavement and Freedom in the Anglo-Atlantic World

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Colonial Office, CO-240-1, The National Archives, Kew (UK)

Colonial Office, CO-240-1, The National Archives, Kew (UK)

We acknowledge the affective toll this website and the historical records it describes may have on readers. The laws governing slavery and freedom in the Atlantic World reflect the historical period in which they were written and contain content and language that is racist, sexist, ableist, and otherwise discriminatory and may be upsetting to readers. The laws contained in this website were written by white lawmakers, many of whom were themselves slaveholders; the voices of the enslaved are not reflected in this archive. However, many of the laws were written in direct response to enslaved people's resistance and their refusal to accept the terms of their bondage. In this way, enslaved people's volition, resistances, survival, and resiliency are apparent in these laws and the laws can be analyzed in a manner that centre enslaved people. This digital archive has been constructed to preserve the historical record for future use and to encourage scholarship on slavery legislation.