So, in 1654, a black indentured servant in Virginia, named John Casor, was indentured to a free black man, Anthony Johnson. A white neighbor, Robert Parker, threatened to bring Johnson to court for holding Casor past his time of indentured servitude. Johnson gave into the thread, and then Casor became a servant of Parker. Feeling duped, Johnson sued to get Casor back, and won. The court basically ruled that since Casor was a heathen african, he couldn't be English, and since he wasn't english, he wasn't protected by English law, and thus could be held in servitude for life (IE, he was a slave). This is basically the legal beginning of slavery in Colonial America.
http://books.google.com/books?id=BEd85InqqAIC&pg=PA48#v=onepage&q&f=false
Now, obviously, there's more than just one court case, but lets say that this case, along with some others and various legislation (perhaps modelled on Maryland's maximum limit on indenture servitude), goes the other way, and the situation becomes more equitable to blacks (or, at least, christian blacks, as a start). How might a slavery-free America develop?
http://books.google.com/books?id=BEd85InqqAIC&pg=PA48#v=onepage&q&f=false
Now, obviously, there's more than just one court case, but lets say that this case, along with some others and various legislation (perhaps modelled on Maryland's maximum limit on indenture servitude), goes the other way, and the situation becomes more equitable to blacks (or, at least, christian blacks, as a start). How might a slavery-free America develop?