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Historical Document Colonial laws 16391682 |
Resource Bank Contents |
Click here for the text of this historical document. The shift from indentured servitude to racial slavery in the British colonies is evident in the development of the colonies' laws.
• Virginia, 1639: The first law to exclude "Negroes" from normal protections by the government was enacted.
• Maryland, 1664: The first colonial "anti-amalgamation" law is enacted (amalgamation referred to "race-mixing"). Other colonies soon followed Maryland's example. A 1691 Virginia law declared that any white man or woman who married a "Negro, mulatto, or Indian" would be banished from the colony forever.
• Virginia, 1667: Christian baptisms would no longer affect the bondage of blacks or Indians, preventing enslaved workers from improving their legal status by changing their religion.
• Virginia, 1682: A law establishing the racial distinction between servants and slaves was enacted.
Related Entries:
• Virginia's slave codes
• Virgina recognizes slavery
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