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Difficulty: MediumLegal Construction of Slavery and Slave Codes

Read the following excerpt from a statute passed by the Virginia General Assembly in 1691:

'...that no negro or mulatto be after the end of this present session of assembly set free by any person or persons whatsoever, unless such person or persons... pay for the transportation of such negro or negroes out of the country within six moneths after such setting free...'

Which of the following best explains the primary purpose of this specific clause within the broader context of the legal construction of slavery in colonial Virginia?

  1. A
    To align Virginia's labor laws with English common law, which mandated that all freed servants be exiled.
  2. To discourage manumission and limit the growth of a free Black population by imposing financial and geographical burdens on enslavers.Answer
  3. C
    To enforce the doctrine of partus sequitur ventrem by ensuring that freed individuals were returned to their maternal homelands.
  4. D
    To establish a uniform system of temporary indenture for all African laborers arriving in the colony after 1691.

Answer

To discourage manumission and limit the growth of a free Black population by imposing financial and geographical burdens on enslavers.
The statute aimed to restrict the growth of the free Black population by making manumission economically and logistically difficult. By requiring the enslaver to pay for the transportation of a freed person out of the colony within six months, the law discouraged manumission and maintained a rigid racial hierarchy where blackness was equated with enslavement.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the text of the 1691 Virginia statute to identify the restriction it places on setting enslaved people free.
The statute dictates that an enslaver cannot free an enslaved person unless they pay for that person's transportation out of the colony within six months.
Understanding the immediate legal mechanism of the statute is necessary to evaluate its intended social and economic effects.
2
Evaluate the socio-economic impact of this transportation requirement on the practice of manumission and the colonial racial hierarchy.
Requiring transportation made manumission expensive for the enslaver and forced the freed person to leave their community, effectively discouraging the act of freeing enslaved people and keeping the free Black population as small as possible.
This links the legal text to its broader purpose of maintaining control over the labor force and preserving the racial hierarchy of the colony.

Key Concept

The statutory restriction of manumission to maintain the stability of the racialized chattel slavery system.
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Legal Construction of Slavery and Slave Codes

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