The Negro Act of 1740, enacted on May 10, 1740, in South Carolina under Governor William Bull, was a legislative response to the Stono Rebellion of 1739. This comprehensive statute restricted the freedoms of enslaved Africans, prohibiting them from traveling, congregating, cultivating their own food, earning money, and learning to write, though reading was not banned. It also allowed owners to kill rebellious slaves if deemed necessary, and it remained in effect until 1865.

John Belton O'Neall, in his 1848 work "The Negro Law of South Carolina," noted that enslaved individuals could own personal property with their master's consent, but legally, this property belonged to the master. This perspective was upheld by state supreme courts throughout the South. O'Neall uniquely criticized the Act, advocating for the acceptance of testimonies from enslaved Africans under oath, emphasizing their capacity to understand and respect the solemnity of an oath comparable to any uneducated class of white individuals in a Christian society.