Abolition of Slavery in Tamwull

Slavery in Tamwull was a legal institution of human enslavement that existed from **357PR** to **513PR** in the nation of Tamwull. Originally the primary race of the slaves were Dwarves, however proceeded to cover all types. It was brought forth by the Tamwull Government, passing through the Tallian Federal Parliament, and enacted into law via the *Erstal Reparations Act 357PR*.

## History

In **346PR**, the city of Erstal, called Vagh Erstal, was overthrown by a group of slaves led by Henrik Eklund in the Erstal Rebellion. After their victory, they went on to found the nation of Tamwull.

In **352PR** the Tamwull Constitution was signed, creating and forming the Tamwull Government, the Tallian Federal Parliament and the Tallian Supreme Court.

Still dealing with the anger and resentment from their previous enslavement at the hands of the Dwarves, the political faction called Tamwull United, currently holding power, brought forth the *Erstal Reparations Act 357PR* in **357PR**. The act legalised the owning of slaves.

## Erstal Reparations Act

The Erstal Reparations Act allowed the freed people of Tamwull to claim reparations from the Dwarves of Vagh Erstal, or other dwarves that had enslaved them. Originally this was intended for financial purposes, as Tamwull was quite poor, though eventually turned into slavery.

If a dwarf, or a freed person that did not help the slave movement, could not pay the fine for enslaving, then they themselves would be enslaved, enforced by the guards of Erstal. A person could choose to free their slave, requiring them to write up paperwork and process it through the guards. It was recommended a free slave leave Erstal/Tamwull in order to avoid getting captured without their paperwork.

### Inherited Status

If a slave beared children, then it was up to the owner of said slave if the children were to be enslaved as well. If the child was of freed blood, then the owner had no choice but to free the children, allowing them to stay with either parent but not holding the same laws. This confusion sometimes meant that free children were often enslaved unless they lived with the owner.

### Branding

Slaves were to be branded with the owner's mark somewhere on their body, with another brand used to represent their freedom.

### Trade

In **368PR** an amendment was made to the law, meaning that slaves could be traded with other people, though if there was a financial amount then it would be taxed under the *Tamwull Taxation Act 352PR*.

## Slavery Act

In **370PR** with the increasing number of slaves in Tamwull, Tamwull United, holding power again, decided to create new legislation to regulate slavery in their nation. For the slaves, this was initially seen as a good sign, likely increasing their conditions, instead it worked against them.

### Enslavement

The Slavery Act allowed for prisoners of both crimes and war to be enslaved, creating a new source of slaves for the nation.

Criminal slaves were only made that way if the crime they committed against a person, or state, could not be paid back financially or with time in prison. Thus, the person was enslaved for a number of years instead, most of the time this was permanent.

### Trade

Slaves outside of the Reparations Act were also allowed to be traded with others, though taxes were still required under the *Tamwull Taxation Act 352PR*. Children under the age of 5 or equivalent were to be sold with their parent, and were forbidden from being sold separately.

### Marriage Restrictions

Slaves were not allowed to marry, and the owner would be required to free the slave if they were going to be enslaved to someone else. Any marriage before the enslavement was nullified under this law.

### Punishment and Killing of Slaves

If an owner were to kill a slave, they would face a fine to the value that the slave would’ve made through sale. Any slave killed under the age of 15 or equivalent would result in all slaves taken from the owner and given to the state instead, or in some rare cases they were freed.

Punishment of slaves often resulted in whipping.

### Movement

Slaves were not allowed to move away from their home or plantation unless they had a pass signed by their master. If they were found breaking said movement restriction, they were either to be punished by whipping and returned to their owner or killed.

## Better Treatment of Slaves

By **490PR** the treatment of slaves was getting better. New amendments to previous laws meant that new slaves, outside of children to current slaves, were illegal.

In **493PR** the Old Guard changed the laws to the slavery so that they were now paid a very small wage, and if they paid off their sale price then they were to be free. Owners were legally required to hold a ledger of the debt that the slaves had.

More laws changed in **498PR** by the Old Guard, meaning that slaves under the age of 15 or equivalent could no longer be whipped and were required to have some form of education.

In **500PR** the number of slaves in Tamwull was around 200,000, though the number was now increasing only small amounts due to the amendments in **490PR**. Owners were now granting freedom to their slaves and a moderate amount, keeping up with current cultural norms who began viewing slavery as bad.

## Abolition of Slavery

In **513PR** Undivided Civics led by Alan Bjork fulfilled their election promise to abolish slavery, beginning the long legislative process of changing the laws.

The first amendment came early in the year, changing the *Erstal Reparations Act 357PR* and removing most of the wording in it, leaving only the legislation required to uphold the payments previously made (in order to avoid lawsuits from families that previously paid reparations). By mid-year, they removed the Slavery Act, enacting the *Abolition Act 513PR*, which made it so all slaves within Tamwull were now free. To deal with the large numbers of freed people, Alan and his faction created a series of national parks, hiring the freed people to maintain it. The rest were offered jobs in the military, or other government construction projects.

### Reactions

Many of the more conservative people, and followers of Tamwull United (conservative at the time) were angry with the abolition. Small fights broke out between the guards who were freeing the slaves, requiring military intervention at most points.

Because of their actions it wasn’t until **520PR** that all slaves were actually freed.