Family Ties: How Enslaved People Fought to Preserve Their Families

The slave codes tried to sever family bonds, but love doesn’t sign contracts. Enslaved people fought valiantly to keep their families together, often defying the system with ingenuity, resilience, and unbreakable spirit.

The Threat to Families

1. How the Codes Targeted Families:

   • Families were frequently separated through sales.

   • Marriage among enslaved people wasn’t legally recognized, denying them stability.

2. Ways They Resisted:

   • Marriage Ceremonies: Jumping the broom became a sacred act of union.

   • Extended Families: Communities stepped in as surrogate families for separated children.

   • Runaways for Reunion: Many risked their lives to find loved ones.

3. The Legacy:

   • These acts of defiance laid the foundation for strong family values in Black culture today.

Why It Matters

What does family mean in your life? How do we honor those who sacrificed everything to keep love alive?

Love may not have been legal, but it was unstoppable. The codes didn’t stand a chance.