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Difficulty: MediumLegal Construction of Slavery and Slave Codes

Read the following excerpt from a 1691 Virginia colonial statute:

"[T]hat no manumised [freed] person also have liberty to stay in the country, but be transported out of it within six months next after his or her manumission, at the charge and cost of the person or persons manumitting them..."

Which of the following historical developments in British North America is best illustrated by this statute?

  1. A
    The implementation of the doctrine of *partus sequitur ventrem* to determine the legal status of newborn children.
  2. The systematic effort by colonial legislatures to limit the growth of a free Black population and enforce a strict racial hierarchy.Answer
  3. C
    The immediate establishment of a fully defined system of hereditary racial slavery from the first moment of English settlement.
  4. D
    The colonial government's introduction of pathways for enslaved individuals to transition into paid agricultural workers.

Answer

The systematic effort by colonial legislatures to limit the growth of a free Black population and enforce a strict racial hierarchy.
The correct answer is correct because the 1691 Virginia statute reflects the deliberate efforts of colonial assemblies to curb the growth of a free Black class. By requiring newly freed individuals to leave the colony and charging the former slaveholder for their transportation, the law sought to prevent the emergence of a permanent free Black community, thereby maintaining a strict racial hierarchy where Blackness remained legally synonymous with enslavement.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the provided statutory text from the 1691 Virginia law.
The statute mandates that any freed (manumitted) person must be transported out of the colony within six months at the owner's expense.
Understanding the immediate legal function of the text is necessary to evaluate its broader historical significance.
2
Connect the law to the historical development of colonial slave codes.
The law deliberately made manumission expensive and legally difficult, while ensuring that free Black people could not remain in Virginia.
This shows how colonial authorities constructed legal barriers to keep Blackness and enslavement closely aligned.
3
Evaluate the choices to identify which historical development is illustrated.
The option describing systematic efforts to limit the free Black population and enforce a racial hierarchy aligns with the statutory restrictions on residency and manumission.
Selecting the correct response requires distinguishing this specific development from other legal milestones like maternal descent or the myth of instant codification.

Key Concept

Legal Construction of Slavery and Slave Codes
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Legal Construction of Slavery and Slave Codes

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