[42]
A SLAVE AS A ”THING”
AI OVERVIEW
You are referring to the defining legal and social characteristic of chattel slavery. Under this system, enslaved human beings were legally classified as personal property, or “chattel”, rather than as legal persons. [1, 2, 3, 4]
This definition manifested in several horrific ways throughout history: [1]
- The Power to Own: Enslaved people were viewed as commodities to be bought, sold, traded, or inherited. [1, 2]
- Lack of Agency: Because they were property, they could not enter into contracts, own land, or legally marry. [1]
- Perpetual Servitude: The status of the child typically followed the status of the mother, meaning generations were born into property ownership. [1, 2, 3, 4]
- Legal Protections: Masters held almost absolute authority over their enslaved laborers, with little to no legal repercussions for abuse or even murder, as harming an enslaved person was generally viewed as destroying another person’s property. [1, 2, 3, 4]
To explore how legal systems codified this dehumanization, you can read more about historical definitions on Britannica’s Slavery Definition or explore the historical context of the trans-Atlantic slave trade on PBS’s Antebellum Slavery.