How would you like following laws that someone else does not have to follow? This is what slaves had to do. Slaves had to follow laws the whites did not have to.

They could not gather in-groups of 4 or more because their owners thought they would plan an escape. If the slaves got caught trying to get away, their owners would beat them or cut body parts off so they could not escape again. If they got away without anyone seeing them, they usually run away to Canada where they would be free. They cannot leave their owners property without a written pass because the slave owners wanted control over the slaves. They could not own weapons because the slaves might shoot their owner. Slaves were not allowed to learn how to read or write because the slaves may start to think about freedom and try to escape.

Can you imagine what life would be like for a slave who goes from plantation to plantation, owner to owner, and auction to auction? This is what most slaves had to do.

Most would be sold to a plantation (a plantation is a place where slaves work all day and live) owner through auctions (auctions are places where they sell stuff). At auctions the slaves had to wear medal tags that told the price of a slave and who the slave was. The price of a slave was always quite high. Slaves had to let the person who was going to buy them insect the slaves teeth, poke and pinch them all over, and make them bend over, twist, and walk around to see if they were healthy. The slave owners did not care if slaves were married. They would sell the couple to two different plantations. They did the same thing to their children.