Legally, slaves were chattels and existing laws did not apply to
them. Gradually, laws were enacted in slave states to adjust penal
codes to this "peculiar institution," and in Florida, these laws to
regulate slaves were much the same as in other states where slaves
were to be found in large numbers. ¹ In 1824, the Legislative Council
of Territorial Florida passed laws restricting a slave's activities. ² No
slave was allowed to carry or keep firearms or any other weapon; he
was subject to thirty-nine lashes if such was found on his person or
in his quarters. On Sunday, no slave was allowed to work on the
plantation. Trading of articles was prohibited between slaves, except
by consent of the owner or overseer. Slaves were not allowed to
remain on plantations without the owner or overseer remaining also,
and owners were subject to fines if guilty of this or if they had in
their possession any slave who had been brought into the territory
after having been convicted of an offense elsewhere. ³

Additional restrictive laws were enacted in 1828. Slaves were not
to be sold from one person to another except under certain condi-
tions, and they could not leave the limits of the plantation without

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