2019 (Jerome S. Handler) “An Early Edict on Slavery in English America: The Barbados Resolution of 1636 and the Island’s Slave Laws.” Journal of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society 65: 22-43.
A resolution on slavery by the Barbados Governor and Council in 1636 has been widely cited and quoted by writers on Anglo American slavery and Barbados history from the early 19th century until the present. Writers have universally accepted either explicitly or implicitly that the Resolution was the earliest slave law and was foundational in legitimizing slavery in Anglo America. No writer has attempted to explain why the Resolution was adopted or has questioned or challenged its role in the history of slave law in Barbados or Anglo America.