Manumission Of Slaves

The Many Shades Of Gray

Slavery as so many other subjects in human history is neither white nor black. There are many shades of gray to the topic of slavery as well.

Manumission is the act of a slave owner freeing his slaves. Different approaches developed, each specific to the time and place of a society's slave system.

Laws of manumission varied widely from society to society and within societies across time. They are often viewed as the litmus test of a particular society’s views of the slave, that is, of the capacities the slave was likely to exhibit as a free human being.

The Augustan Manumission Laws

There were apparently three different laws attempting to limit manumission during the reign of Augustus:

Lex Aelia Sentia of 4 AD

Lex Fufia Caninia of 2 BC

Lex Iunia Norbana, 17 BC/19BC

The rate of manumission did not necessarily correspond to the legal ease of manumission. It should be noted, however, that in Rome manumission was relatively easy and was widely practiced, even though there was a 5% tax on manumission in the Republic, and the Lex Fufia Caninia of 2 BC forbade manumission by testament of more than a fifth to a half of one's slaves, depending on the number owned.

“The Lex Aelia Sentia took away the automatic right to full citizenship on manumission from a large number of slaves.” (Source).

“The Lex Fufia Caninia was designed to regulate the proportion of an owner’s slaves that they could free at death.” (Source).

“Lex Iunia Norbana … stated that slaves who were emancipated without the proper formalities and rituals being observed were not recognized as freedmen by the state, essentially illegalizing all such circumstances. This was passed to ensure that the jurists were always aware of all manumissions, and hence keep tabs on the exact numbers of slaves in the Empire.” (Source)

Were the Romans concerned that manumission could undermine their system of slavery? Quite possibly. It is astounding to say the least that during Augustus’s reign alone three respective laws dealing with manumission were passed.

Manumission In The United States

This is not an exhaustive history of manumission in the US, but just a few pointers.

The first President, George Washington, did manumission at death.

The third President, Thomas Jefferson, released some of his slaves upon death.

Benjamin Franklin freed his slaves.

Manumission was forbidden in South Carolina in 1820, Mississippi in 1822, Arkansas in 1858, and Maryland and Alabama in 1860. Here it is again big government’s role in upholding something as appalling as slavery and imposing its dim witted views on everybody.