Welcome to SlaveCodes.org

Illuminating a Foundational Jurisprudence

In the summer of 2023, a simple observation about drums in African American music set me on an unexpected journey. I found myself exploring the migration of drums in the Atlantic slave trade, trying to understand why these instruments seemed less central to African American music compared to other parts of the African diaspora across the Americas.

This curiosity led me down a path of historical inquiry into slave codes and their effect on music in the Americas. What I learned was intriguing but the experience was equally frustrating: information on slave codes was scattered and difficult to access. If I struggled to find this information, it must be challenging for others.

And so, SlaveCodes.org was born. No one should have to struggle so much to learn about the slave codes. Slave codes are foundational jurisprudence to the colonies and subsequent countries founded in the Americas.

Our Mission

SlaveCodes.org aims to collect, translate, and make accessible the slave codes that were in effect during the Atlantic Slave Trade, from the 1400s to the late 1800s. Our focus spans the Americas, encompassing laws drafted by colonial powers under Portuguese, English, American, French, and Spanish rule.

We're committed to translating these codes into English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French — the primary languages of the Atlantic slave trade. Our goal is to make this crucial historical information as accessible as possible to researchers, educators, and the general public.

The Lasting Impact of Slave Codes

The importance of studying slave codes extends far beyond historical curiosity. These laws laid the groundwork for many aspects of modern society, influencing everything from racial attitudes to legal structures. Let's explore a few examples:

1. Stigmatization of Interracial Relationships: The 1724 Code Noir of Louisiana forbade marriages between whites and blacks. Similar laws persisted in the United States until 1967, when Loving v. Virginia finally struck them down. Interestingly, Loving v. Virginia was cited in all but one opinion in the 2022 ruling of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, demonstrating the enduring legal relevance of these historical laws.

2. Policing and Incarceration: Slave codes often empowered all white people to police the movements and gatherings of enslaved individuals. For instance, Act 13 of the 1724 Code Noir of Louisiana allowed any white person to arrest enslaved people gathered in groups. In the United States, these de jure laws evolved into Jim Crow laws; and policing social psychology continues today influencing modern policing and incarceration practices that disproportionately affect Black communities.

3. Freedom of Movement and Expression: Many slave codes required enslaved people to carry passes when traveling off plantations. This concept of restricting movement and expression persisted long after slavery's abolition. For the vast majority of the 20th century, New York's Cabaret Laws required licenses for jazz musicians — often Black artists — to perform, echoing the control mechanisms of slavery. Similarly, in Miami's Overtown, Black residents had to carry a police card of some kind. "The passes themselves came in different forms. Sometimes a simple note from a white employer would be enough to save a black laborer from 'an incident.'"¹ These practices demonstrate how the legacy of slave codes continued to impact Black communities' freedom of movement and expression well into the modern era.

Join Our Effort

Creating a comprehensive repository of slave codes is an enormous undertaking, and we need your help. Whether you can provide full texts of slave codes, translations, or scholarly analysis, your input is invaluable. Please check out our Contribution Guidelines to learn more about how you can help and what we're looking for.

As we build this resource, we're committed to maintaining the highest standards of historical accuracy. All contributions will be carefully vetted to ensure they meet the rigorous standards expected by academic researchers while remaining accessible to the general public.

We invite you to explore the slave codes, read our blog posts, and join us in this crucial work of historical preservation and social understanding. To get started, take a look at the 1724 Louisiana Code Noir, currently the only published slave code on our site. But stay tuned — we plan to add about five other slave codes from around the Americas by the end of 2024, including the 1661 Barbados Slave Code, 1664 Jamaica Slave Code, 1684 Code Noir, 1784 Codigo Negro Carolino, and 1860 District of Columbia Slave Code.

The Drum Ban: A Case Study in Cultural Suppression

Remember the drums that sparked this journey? They offer a poignant example of how slave codes shaped cultural development. Several slave codes explicitly banned drums, recognizing their potential as tools for communication and community-building among enslaved people.

For instance, following the Stono Rebellion in 1739, South Carolina's Slave Act of 1740 prohibited "drums, horns, or other loud instruments, which may call together, or give sign or notice to one another of their wicked designs or purposes." Similar laws were enacted in Georgia and other states.²

This suppression had lasting effects, fundamentally altering the development of African American music. African American jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie eloquently described this impact in his autobiography: "It's strange how the white people tried to keep us separate from the Africans and from our heritage. That's why, today, you don't hear in our music, as much as you do in other parts of the world, African heritage, because they took our drum away from us."

The loss went beyond just the physical instruments. Gillespie noted a profound rhythmic shift: "As far as our heritage goes, ... with those few exceptions when they took our drums away, our music developed along a monorhythmic line. It wasn't polyrhythmic like African music."³ This transition from the rich, layered polyrhythms characteristic of African music to a simpler monorhythmic structure illustrates the deep-seated cultural impact of slave codes, reshaping the very foundation of African American musical expression relative to the rest of the African diaspora.

SlaveCodes.org is more than just a historical archive — it's a tool for understanding the roots of many contemporary social issues. By shining a light on these foundational legal structures, we hope to contribute to more informed discussions about race, law, and society in the modern world. Join us in this crucial work of historical preservation and social understanding. Together, we can uncover the often-hidden foundations of our society and work towards a more just future.

References