Behind the Fiction of Washington Black: Barbados's Slave Code

Long Before Washington Black, there is law. In 1661, Barbados codified goods slavery and became Britain's very first servant society-- a design that travelled through the Atlantic world. This post and 56-second trailer set the fiction against the facts: how the Barbados Slave Code normalised punishment, protected residential or commercial property, and exported a system beyond one island. We also trace links to Halifax and everyday Caribbean lives that brought durability through all of it.



Take a minute to view, then go deeper with the full podcast

barbados history