may 14, 1640 - Legalizing of Slave Trade

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The courts in Virginia started sentencing black servants to slavery. Such sentencing marked a major change from indentured servant hood to full scale slavery. The same period also witnessed various regions of the United States legalizing the trade in slaves. For instance, Massachusetts legalized the trade, while Virginia enacted laws that punished people who assisted runaways . Furthermore, the law started the branding of slaves if they made a second attempt to escape. Furthermore, Barbados, a British territory, made legislations for governing the slave trade. Such included standardizing practices such as branding and whipping, which had been borrowed from Roman slavery .(Image: https://www.myartprints.co.uk/a/american-school/whippingaslaveinpunishmen.html)

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