"
First.--The married women and their legal status. What is servitude?
"The condition of a slave." What is a slave? "A person who is robbed of
the proceeds of his labor; a person who is subject to the will of
another."
By the law of Georgia, South Carolina, and all the states of the South,
the negro had no right to the custody and control of his person. He
belonged to his master. If he was disobedient, the master had the right
to use correction. If the negro didn't like the correction, and
attempted to run away, the master had a right to use coercion to bring
him back.
By the law of every state in this Union to-day, North as well as South,
the married woman has no right to the custody and control of her person.
The wife belongs to her husband; and if she refuses obedience to his
will, he may use moderate correction, and if she doesn't like his
moderate correction, and attempts to leave his "bed and board," the
husband may use moderate coercion to bring her back. The little word
"moderate," you see, is the saving clause for the wife, and would
doubtless be overstepped should her offended husband administer his
correction with the "cat-o'-nine-tails," or accomplish his coercion with
blood-hounds.
Again, the slave had no right to the earnings of his hands, they
belonged to his master; no right to the custody of his children, they
belonged to his master; no right to sue or be sued, or testify in the
courts.
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