8 inhumane ‘slave codes’ created to keep black people in bondage in the 1700s

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Slaves could not leave the plantation or travel without permission from their masters. Yet, thousands of slaves ran away. Some left the plantation for days or weeks at a time and lived in hiding. Those who were caught usually faced the death penalty. Any Black person in bondage who attempted to run away and leave the colony was also subject to the death penalty. “In the South, those who evaded capture for 20 days or more would be publicly whipped for the first offence, branded with the letter R on the right cheek for the second offence, lose an ear for the third offence, and castrated for the fourth offence,” writes Curtin Bunn in 2014. In other jurisdictions, fugitive slaves would have their hamstring being cut off.