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Life on a Cotton Plantation:
Document 12: “The Negro Law of South Carolina,” 1848
Document 12: “The Negro Law of South Carolina,” 1848
John Belton O’Neall drafted these proposed laws and offered them to the South Carolina State Agricultural Society, who in turn directed him to submit the proposal to the governor and legislature for approval as law. In the introduction, O’Neall says that he was “charged with the preparation of a digest of the Law in relation to Negroes, (slave or free).”
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
Livery: A set of fancy clothing, usually in the form of a suit, required to be worn by certain enslaved people (butlers, valets, coachmen, etc.) that reflected the status of their enslaver
Duffils, kerseys, osnaburgs, blue linen, check linen or coarse garlix, or callicoes: Rough, poor-quality fabrics used to make clothing for enslaved people
Seizure: Forcibly taken possession of something
Constable: A police officer
Forfeited: Lost or gave up
Transcript
Transcript
Sec. 48. The 40th section of the Act of 1740, regulates the apparel of slaves, (except livery men or boys) and prohibits them from wearing any thing finer, other or of great value than negro cloth, duffils, kerseys, osnaburgs, blue linen, check linen or coarse garlix, or callicoes, checked cottons, or Scotch plaids ; and declares all garments of finer or other kind, to be liable to seizure by any constable as forfeited.
Text-Dependent Questions
Text-Dependent Questions
What does the law say will happen to enslaved people who wear fine clothes?
Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions
How might a law like this influence what factory owners produced in northern textile mills?
Why do you think white lawmakers felt it was important for enslaved people not to wear “all garments finer or other kind”?
Citation“The Negro Law of South Carolina, Collected and Digested By John Belton O’Neall,” 1848Library of Congress, https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/public/gdcmassbookdig/negrolawofsouthc00onea /negrolawofsouthc00onea.pdf
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