History of slavery in Tennessee

The history of slavery in Tennessee began when it was the old Southwest Territory and thus the law regulating slavery in Tennessee was broadly derived from North Carolina law, and was initially comparatively "liberal." However, after statehood, as the fear of slave rebellion and the threat to slavery posed by abolitionism increased, the laws became increasingly punitive: after 1831, "punishments were increased and privileges and immunities were lessened and circumvented." Tennessee was one of five states that allowed slaves the right of a jury trial, and one of three states that never passed anti-literacy laws, although the punishment for forging a slave pass was up to 39 lashes. Tennessee had a ban on interstate slave trading beginning in 1827 but it was broadly flouted and repealed in 1854.

Source: Wikipedia — History of slavery in Tennessee (CC BY-SA 4.0)