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To: Darth Reardon

Interesting.

Were there white slaves?
Were there free slaves in slave states?

Please elaborate.


15 posted on 11/27/2010 7:16:31 AM PST by Eddie01
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To: Eddie01

Not sure exactly what you’re asking, but slaves were freed by their owners or bought their freedom themselves in “slave” states. There were also black freemen and always had been.

White slaves? There were people of European descend who were bound. This was typically for a period of seven years, usually to pay the cost of their “transportation” to this continent. Practical reality was that all manner of bizarre infractions, such as marrying or having children, resulted in penalties that added time to their term of indenture, leading to over a decade or more in servitude. But, they were not “owned” in their persons for life as in chattel slavery.


18 posted on 11/27/2010 7:32:31 AM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: Eddie01
"Were there white slaves?"

I'm not sure about "white slaves" (I don't think so, could be wrong), but there were definitely white indentured servants. By modern standards, they'd certainly qualify as slaves, although perhaps they might have enjoyed an "expiration date".

20 posted on 11/27/2010 8:10:25 AM PST by OldDeckHand
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To: Eddie01
"Were there white slaves?"

Maybe not in the U.S., but do some research on the Barbary Pirates.

23 posted on 11/27/2010 8:45:17 AM PST by Flag_This (Real presidents don't bow.)
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To: Eddie01

There were free blacks in the US. Some former slaves, and some who had never been slaves. They would be counted as whole persons, since the Constitution said “which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons”.

There were white indentured servants, as others have mentioned. They would count as whole persons, as the Constitution continued “including those bound to Service for a Term of Years”.

I’m not sure if there were white slaves, but if there were, they would be covered under the rest of that sentence, “and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons”.

But no where in that section does it mention black or white.


24 posted on 11/27/2010 8:55:39 AM PST by Darth Reardon (No offense to drunken sailors)
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