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Difficulty: EasyDevelopment of Chattel Slavery

The following excerpt is from the Barbados Slave Code of 1661:

'Be it enacted... that all and every the Negroes and other Slaves within this Island... shall be held, taken, and adjudged to be chattel, and not real estate... [and] if any Negro or slave shall offer any violence to any Christian... [they] shall be severely whipped...'

Based on the excerpt, which of the following was a primary purpose of this law?

  1. To establish a legal system that defined enslaved people as property to secure a permanent labor forceAnswer
  2. B
    To create a system of contract labor that offered land and freedom after a set number of years
  3. C
    To regulate shipping tariffs and prevent merchants from trading with other European empires
  4. D
    To implement the Spanish encomienda system to manage agricultural production in English colonies

Answer

To establish a legal system that defined enslaved people as property to secure a permanent labor force
The correct answer is the option stating that the law's purpose was to establish a legal system defining enslaved people as property to secure a permanent labor force. The Barbados Slave Code of 1661 legally defined enslaved Africans as 'chattel' (movable property), which allowed plantation owners to treat them as inheritable assets, thereby institutionalizing a permanent and hereditary labor system.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the primary source excerpt from the Barbados Slave Code of 1661.
The excerpt explicitly defines 'Negroes and other Slaves' as 'chattel' (property) and outlines physical punishments for resistance.
Understanding the literal text is the first step in identifying the law's intent.
2
Connect the excerpt to the broader historical context of colonial labor systems in the seventeenth century.
As the demand for cash crops grew, colonies increasingly codified racial chattel slavery to ensure a permanent, hereditary labor force, transitioning away from reliance on temporary indentured servants.
This contextualization links the specific legal definition of 'chattel' to the economic and social needs of the plantation system.
3
Evaluate the answer choices to find the one that matches the purpose of defining slaves as chattel.
The option proposing the establishment of a legal system defining enslaved people as property matches both the text ('adjudged to be chattel') and the historical development.
This confirms the correct option while eliminating distractors that confuse this system with indentured servitude, mercantilist trade laws, or Spanish labor systems.

Key Concept

Development of Chattel Slavery
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Development of Chattel Slavery

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