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Difficulty: EasyGendered Dimensions of Slavery and Resistance

A historian writes the following about the legal status of enslaved women in the British North American colonies:

'By enacting laws that determined the legal status of a child based on the status of the mother, colonial legislatures established a hereditary system of chattel slavery. This legal turn not only guaranteed a self-reproducing labor force for slaveholders but also placed enslaved women at the center of the legal definition of property.'

Which of the following legal doctrines or practices is described in the excerpt?

  1. A
    The practice of petit maroonage, which involved temporary individual flight to protest enslavement
  2. B
    The immediate codification of racial chattel slavery upon the initial arrival of British colonists
  3. The legal doctrine of partus sequitur ventrem, which defined an infant's status according to that of the motherAnswer
  4. D
    Covert resistance strategies, which focused on daily labor disruptions and cultural preservation

Answer

The legal doctrine of partus sequitur ventrem, which defined an infant's status according to that of the mother
The legal doctrine of partus sequitur ventrem, which defined an infant's status according to that of the mother, is the correct answer. This statutory principle legally institutionalized hereditary slavery in the colonies, specifically targeting enslaved women by ensuring that children born to them would also be legally classified as property.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the historian's excerpt to identify the legal mechanism described.
The excerpt explains that the child's status followed the mother's status, creating a hereditary system of slavery.
Understanding the core legal mechanism is necessary to identify the corresponding historical term.
2
Evaluate the choices to find the doctrine that dictates hereditary status inherited from the mother.
The Latin term partus sequitur ventrem translates to 'that which is brought forth follows the womb,' defining the child's status by the mother.
Matching the definition to the legal term confirms the correct answer.

Key Concept

The role of the legal doctrine partus sequitur ventrem in institutionalizing hereditary chattel slavery and defining the gendered dimensions of enslavement.
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Gendered Dimensions of Slavery and Resistance

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