Locke and Slavery, 1669

For my HC students, H105 and H303: the darker side of John Locke--from his (he was co-author) Fundamental Constitution of the Carolinas, 1669:

107. “Since charity obliges us to wish well to the souls of all men, and religion ought to alter nothing in any man's civil estate or right, it shall be lawful for slaves, as well as others, to enter themselves, and be of what church or profession any of them shall think best, and, therefore, be as fully members as any freeman. But yet no slave shall hereby be exempted from that civil dominion his master hath over him, but be in all things in the same state and condition he was in before.”

110. “Every freeman of Carolina shall have absolute power and authority over his negro slaves, of what opinion or religion soever.”