"There shall never be any bond slaverie, villinage or Captivitie amongst us, unlesse it be lawfull Captives taken in just warres, and such strangers as willingly selle themselves or are sold to us. And these shall have all the liberties and Christian usages which the law of god established in Israell..."
— Massachusetts Body of Liberties, 1641
Which of the following historical developments in the seventeenth-century British colonies is best reflected in the excerpt?
- The legal codification of slavery in colonies that did not rely on plantation agriculture as their primary economic foundationAnswer
- BThe immediate and complete replacement of indentured servitude by hereditary chattel slavery in the northern colonies
- CThe introduction of imperial mercantilist policies that successfully prohibited northern colonists from participating in the transatlantic slave trade
- DThe development of a unified labor system that erased demographic and economic differences between New England and the Chesapeake
Answer
The legal codification of slavery in colonies that did not rely on plantation agriculture as their primary economic foundation
The correct answer is correct because the Massachusetts Body of Liberties demonstrates that New England colonies established legal frameworks for chattel slavery, even though their domestic economies relied primarily on family farms and trade rather than large-scale agricultural plantations. This shows that the legal institutionalization of slavery was not limited to the southern plantation colonies.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Development of Chattel Slavery in British North America