The brief history of the legal status of the African-Americans from the arrival of the first slaves to the civil war

Abstract

The fate of the men, women, and children deported from Africa to the North American continent and their descendants is intertwined with the history of the United States. In my paper, I seek to provide a historical framework for how the first African slaves came to the British colonies in North America, and the legal environment that awaited them on the other side of the Atlantic. I will show that the inequality of rights did not begin with the arrival of African slaves but was the result of legislation and court rulings from a constantly changing social and economic environment that left them disenfranchised for long centuries. Initially, there was no significant difference between white and African American slaves working for wealthy landowners. However, from the late 17^th century onwards, the perception of African Americans was transformed, and they became victims of direct discrimination enshrined in law. In my paper I will try to show that the rights of African Americans were diminished decade by decade during the 18^th century. I will review as a case study the most important legislation and court cases from Virginia’s colonial period. I will also try to show that, although the Revolutionary War did not bring about a major change in the legal status of African Americans, the fault lines that led to the Civil War almost a century later were already visible. Through a brief review of Supreme Court precedent, I will attempt to illuminate how the abolitionist movement in the 19^th century sought to legally secure freedom for African Americans throughout the United States.