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The Creeks first adopted a slave code in 1825. In time their code became increasingly harsh, limiting property and prohibiting even the rights of free blacks, most notably perhaps the right to bear arms. With the exception of the Seminoles, all of the "civilized tribes" were adopting harsher slave codes in the 1840s. The advent of whites marrying into the tribes contributed to the trend, as mixed-breed, slave-holding families came to dominate tribal leadership councils.