South Carolina Enacts Its First Comprehensive Slave Code (1696)

South Carolina enacted its first comprehensive slave code in 1696, modeled on the Barbados slave code of 1661 — brought to Carolina by Barbadian planters. The code classified all enslaved Africans as property, established brutal punishments for resistance (castration, branding, and death), restricted movement, prohibited assembly, and made it illegal to teach enslaved people to read. It was one of the harshest slave codes in the English colonies and would be strengthened further after the Stono Rebellion of 1739. The 1696 code laid the foundation for the plantation slavery system that would make South Carolina the wealthiest colony per capita in North America.