1641

Massachusetts Is First Colony to Legalize Slavery

Seal of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
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Seal of the Massachusetts Bay Colony Credit: Viiticus, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons (no changes made)

Massachusetts becomes the first colony in North America to legalize slavery.

The 'Body of Liberties' is renowned as the first legal code in New England, and contains the following language attempting to rationalize slavery: "There shall be never be any bond slavery…amongst us, unless it be lawful captives taken in just wars, and such strangers as willingly sell themselves or are sold to us…."
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