III. Illegal Aspects of Modern "Slavery" (Human Trafficking)
: Laws often made it difficult for owners to free slaves, requiring state approval or the removal of the freed person from the territory. Slave Testimonies skacat illegal aspects of legal slavery 18 best
After the Zong massacre (1781), regulations tried to limit slave-to-space ratios. Yet captains illegally packed up to 600 people onto ships designed for 200—a direct violation of British marine insurance laws, which required “reasonable accommodations.” Overcrowding caused death rates exceeding 25% per voyage. Yet captains illegally packed up to 600 people
That night, Silas didn't think about the Fugitive Slave Act or the complexities of maritime law. He thought about the North Star. If the law was a lie told by men to keep him in a cage, then his only truth was the distance between his feet and the muddy bank of the river. If the law was a lie told by
Many slave codes did not recognize slave marriage, but some colonies (e.g., Spanish Florida, French Louisiana) did allow formal Catholic slave marriages. However, in British colonies, attempts by clergy to marry slaves without master consent were often illegal. By contrast, in parts of Brazil, slave marriage was legally protected, and breaking it by selling spouses apart was restricted. When owners sold married slaves apart in those regions, it was illegal under church law, though civil law rarely enforced it.