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Slave Laws
The British colonies of the 1700s passed laws to control slaves. A slave
was not free to marry, vote, move about freely, or meet with friends.
A slave legally could be whipped, starved, tortured, mutilated, or branded.
A slave could be forced to have children or to work eighteen hours a day.
A slave could be abused or murdered or sold at any time. A slave was regarded
as a piece of property. In spite of the strict laws and punishments, slaves
did rebel against this treatment. From the 1500s to the 1800s, there were
more than 250 known slave revolts.
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