The children who grew up in slavery were denied the most basic human rights, such as freedom, safety, protection from degrading and cruel treatment, compensation for work done, education, equality and the right to freely move around. They worked for no pay and were property that could be bought, sold, maimed or killed.

Slave children, under their parents and masters, lived in fear of punishment and isolation. Though circumstances widely varied, they often worked in fields with adults, tended animals, cleaned and served in their owners’ houses, and took care of younger children while their parents were working.

• Poverty: like so many other issues in the world, the root cause of child labour is poverty.
• Crisis: Natural disasters or the death of one of both parents can force children in to hazardous work in order to help their family survive day-to-day.

These seven factors led to the development of the slave trade:

• The importance of the West Indian colonies.
• The shortage of labour.
• The failure to find alternative sources of labour.
• The legal position.
• Racial attitudes.
• Religious factors.
• Military factors.

On a typical plantation, slaves worked ten or more hours a day, “from day clean to first dark,” six days a week, with only the Sabbath off. At planting or harvesting time, planters required slaves to stay in the fields 15 or 16 hours a day.

During harvest time, slaves worked in shifts of up to 18 hours a day.

Slaves on small farms often slept in the kitchen or an outbuilding, and sometimes in small cabins near the farmer’s house. On larger plantations where there were many slaves, they usually lived in small cabins in a slave quarter, far from the master’s house but under the watchful eye of an overseer.

During their limited leisure hours, particularly on Sundays and holidays, slaves engaged in singing and dancing. Though slaves used a variety of musical instruments, they also engaged in the practice of “patting juba” or the clapping of hands in a highly complex and rhythmic fashion.

Some people spent their free time visiting other farms or plantations where their spouses or family members lived. Some found time for games and sports in their free hours.

Many slaves did learn to read through Christian instruction, but only those whose owners allowed them to attend. Some slave owners would only encourage literacy for slaves because they needed someone to run errands for them and other small reasons. They did not encourage slaves to learn to write.

These marriages were acknowledged by both the enslaved community and the Washingtons. However, they were not recognized or protected by the legal system, because enslaved people were considered property and not persons in the eyes of the law.

Approximately 100,000 American slaves escaped to freedom. This is approximately 2.5% of the 3,953,752 slaves in the 1860 Census, about 2% if one includes the slaves who died before 1860.

After Emancipation, many former slaves adopted new names and surnames. They did so either to take on a surname for the first time, or to replace a name or surname given to them by a former master. Here, three different former slaves discuss their names and the changes they underwent after Emancipation.

Over 40 million people are estimated to be in slavery across the world, as forced marriage is officially recognised as a form of slavery for the first time.

Top countries for child marriage

• Niger* — 76%
• Central African Republic* — 68%
• Chad* — 67%
• Bangladesh* — 59%
• Mali* — 52%
• South Sudan* — 52%
• Burkina Faso — 52%
• Guinea — 51%

Forced and early marriage are most common in impoverished states in Africa, South Asia as well as the former Soviet republics. However, there are still cases of forced and early marriage in more affluent North American and European countries. Forced marriage can be coupled with other forms of slavery.

To control unwanted behaviour and sexuality, and prevent ‘unsuitable’ relationships, i.e. with people outside their ethnic, cultural, caste or religious group. To protect perceived cultural or religious ideals. Family ‘honour’ or long-standing family commitments.

In some U.S. states, forced marriage is a crime, and in all U.S. states, people who force someone to marry may be charged with violating state laws, including those against domestic violence, child abuse, rape, assault, kidnapping, threats of violence, stalking, or coercion.

(Only six countries – Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen – do not specify a minimum age for marriage.) However, almost two thirds of the countries (117) allow children to marry. Even in countries that stipulate a minimum age of 18, many have exemptions to the rule.

In Indiana, this is also mostly true, although a person who is 21 can marry a person who is 17 years old. Minimum age in 50 states: 1 state has a minimum age of 12 years old for females and 14 years old for males:Massachusetts. 2 states have a minimum age of 14: Alaska, and Vermont.

Child marriage is common. It takes place in every corner of the world. More than 650 million women and girls alive today were married before their 18th birthday. Globally, 21 per cent of young women, 20-24 years old, were child brides.

Niger

Child Marriage is defined as a marriage of a girl or boy before the age of 18 and refers to both formal marriages and informal unions in which children under the age of 18 live with a partner as if married. Child marriage violates children’s rights and places them at high risk of violence, exploitation, and abuse.

In conflict areas, women and girls are sometimes forced to marry men on either side of the conflict. This practice has taken place recently in countries such as Syria, Sierra Leone, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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