American slavery law was invented locally, not inherited from English law

Evidence

The law of slavery was an American invention, stitched together out of various sources, powerfully influenced by strong feelings of race, and mixed together with the labor customs of the West Indies and the southern colonies. Slaves were slaves for life, and the children of slave mothers were slaves from birth. — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law, 203

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader polyad theme of law-making grounded in land, race, and colonialism across the other three courses. — connects to: American courts adopted only the English common law applicable to local conditions — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 972; Killing a slave was not legally murder in early South Carolina — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1353