(LONG VERSION)

This School Based Assessment (SBA) seeks to determine which of the Slave Laws, “Les Siete
Partidas”, , were more humane among the three. The French “Code Noir” and the English slave
laws. The term “humane” is used to describe having compassion or benevolence, or to be
concerned with the interest, needs and welfare of a human. In order to determine the degree of
humanity that each law had, one can define “humane” within the context of four main factors of
enslavement, which included: the status given to the enslaved, whether they were considered
people or property, the types of restrictions the enslaved endured and harshness of punishments
of the enslaved. I believe that it is accurate to say that the Siete Partidas was the most humane
because they had more best treated the enslaved, in terms of law and practice, than the other
Codes.

Firstly, one should address the status of the enslaved people through each of the of laws. The
status of the enslaved was vastly different in the Siete Partidas as compared to the French Code
Noir and the English slave laws. The Siete Partidas was fairly liberal, because they were
respectful of each enslaved person’s rights and freedoms. The Siete Partidas took into account
ways in which they could have treated the enslaved with respect, such as grant them freedom and
look after their families with the recopilacion. The Siete Partidas described the enslaved of
having personalities and not being property. An example of this can be shown from an extract of
the Siete Partidas, which was “All creatures in the world naturally Iove and desire liberty, and
much more do men, who have intelligence superior to that of others.” in Partida IV, Títle XXII.
The Code Noir was fairly similar to the Siete Partidas. The enslaved were permitted baptism into
Christianity1, as compared to compulsory conversion with the Spanish. These laws gave the
enslaved rights, some more than the English, but were still very derogatory towards them. For
example, the enslaved that were not of the Roman, Catholic and Apostolic religion were
forbidden to marry each other. In contrast, the English slave laws were quite conservative in their
outlook on enslavement. The enslaved were denied Christianity. Their laws were very
unforgiving and brutal, as they viewed their enslaved as mere property. In the English slave laws,
the master had complete authority over his enslaved to dispose of them as he pleased.2

In terms of restrictions, once again the Siete Partidas was the best for the enslaved. This code
included provisions for the work and recreation of enslaved, their housing and medical care, their
maintenance in old age, their marriages and their formal protection in law. As for the enslaved
under Code Noir were not allowed to work on Sundays, or on any holiday of the Roman,
Catholic and Apostolic religion. The pardon was from midnight to midnight, giving the enslaved
a 24-hour day of absolutely no work. Failure to comply would have resulted in the confiscation
of cane produced on the day, a fine, and a random punishment for the masters of the plantation.
The enslaved under the English Slave laws were barely benefitting from these laws and were
brutally punished for not complying with them. Instead of getting rid of incompetent or not very
useful servants, the master was obligated to keep all enslaved.

1
Greenwood p. 66
2
Goveia p. 77
 When it came to punishment, once again, the Siete Partidas was ahead of the other two slave
codes in terms of humanity. In Goveia’s book “The West Indian Slave Laws of the 18th
Century”, she brings up a great point that can legitimize the Siete Partidas as being the most
humane as she states “As the celebrated jurist Solórzano pointed out, the slave was, in law,
entitled to the protection and intervention of the law on his behalf, and the master could actually
lose his property in the slave as a result of proved maltreatment of him.” This did not only mean
that the Spanish were aware of the cruelties of enslavement and made life better for the enslaved
but rather had laws in place to protect the enslaved if ever they were in anyway abused by their
masters. This vastly contrasts to the intention of the English Slave laws and The Code Noir.
The enslaved were forbidden to publicly practice their traditional religion and were subject to
punishment if caught. As for the English slave code, the English were very harsh and grim with
their enslaved. Goveia makes a wealth of great observational material to pull from, as she says in
her book “the English law in the West Indies worked against the slave, because he was there as
mere property or something very near it.3” and that the slave code “left the power of the master
over his property, the slave, virtually unlimited.”4 According to Greenwood, the death penalty
was given for minor offences such as stealing any goods over the value of a shilling.5 Planters
were compensated for their loss of their enslaved persons.6 This utter lack of humanity further
proves the English laws deserve to be the least humane, as it did not respect the enslaved at all,
and gave the most respect to the masters as they are the ones who were cared for if the enslaved
one is killed. As for the Siete Partidas and Code Noir, laws were set in place that forbade
planters from giving the death penalty hence preventing them from abusing it.7
The Siete Partidas, allowed for the enslaved to be baptized and even freed, through
manumission. Within the laws, manumission, was actually encouraged. The Code Noir did not
permit manumission. Manumission did however occur as individual manumissions. They were
granted as the code allowed for the Superior Council to oversee and grant manumissions.8 The
manumitted enslaved were extremely rare in the Code Noir, only given to the best servants for
their loyalty and service. The English slave laws completely disregarded the rights of the
enslaved9. Legislators were unwilling to even consider the manumission of the enslaved, as they
believed it would affect the economy. They believed the public needed to be compensated
beforehand to prevent economic decline.10
The Siete Partidas showed the most compassion towards the enslaved and the laws made an
effort to develop and advance them, and also protect them judicially. They were viewed as
personalities and were treated as such. The Siete Partidas looked after the individuals and
families of the enslaved. It provided many provisions for the enslaved, and they were less

3
Goveia p. 82
4
Goveia p. 82
5
Greenwood p. 67
6
Goveia p. 96
7
Greenwood p. 67
8
Race, Sex, and Social Order in Early New Orleans p. 85
9
Goveia p. 86
10
Goveia p. 87
restrictive in that regard. If the enslaved were ever punished under the Siete Partidas, there were
laws which prohibited extreme punishments or torture such as the death penalty. The Siete
Partidas also made manumission accessible through religion, which was far better than little to
no manumission from the Code Noir and the English slave laws. The Code Noir was
straightforward, and was in between the Siete Partidas. At times it was as easy on the enslaved
such as the Siete Partidas, and at other times were as cold as the English slave laws. The Code
Noir restricted their traditions and deprived them of their culture. The enslaved were forced to
adhere to the religious beliefs of their masters or they would have been punished. Although it
was forbidden to torture the enslaved, the code overlooked or neglected such limits and severely
tormented the enslaved anyway. The manumitted were scarce, as it was not permitted in the
code. The English Slave laws were the least humane, creating laws against the enslaved to fulfill
their own selfish agendas of power and control. Their laws allowed them to do anything to the
enslaved who could not fight back. These laws were the nastiest of all three. The enslaved were
disregarded as property whose lives were dispensable to make the lives of the Europeans better.
They also removed the culture from the enslaved. They had several criminal enslaved people
killed under death penalty for stealing items worth a penny. The English Slave laws were so
cruel they made manumission possible, but unrealistically expensive so that it was impossible or
highly difficult for the enslaved to be manumitted.
Conclusion