Virginia Slave Codes

Slavery dates back to the seventeenth century, when they were brought by ship from Africa to America. Plantation owners has indentured servants from Europe, who was serving time for their actions, and slaves from Africa. There was a prevalent development of degrading treatment towards African slaves and the institution of slavery as a whole in the time period of 1607- 1750 in Virginia which can be seen by slaves getting taken advantage of, children being taken away or runaway ads and also not receiving the same basic human rights as other individuals .

Indentured Servitude in Colonial America William Gunnell, Jr. travelled with his parents from their home in Great Britain to Virginia sometime before his tenth birthday in 1715. In Virginia, they became indentured servants for a man named Richard Lee. Following his master’s death, William’s indenture was inherited by Richard’s son. William worked for the Lee family for six years as a clerk, running errands and keeping the books. At the age of sixteen, William’s contract ended, and he became a free man (“Indentured Servants,” n.d., para. 4). This is one of the better examples of indentured servitude in the colonies, since most servants did not live to see the end of their contracts. In the colonies, indentured servitude acted as a kind of contract-based slavery in which free people were turned into property for a term of four to seven years, on average. Their owners paid for their food, clothing, and shelter on arrival in the colonies until the servants had completed their contract, upon which they were paid “freedom dues” which could be anything from tools, land, or even guns (“Indentured Servants,” n.d., para. 1).

American Slavery 1619-1877 Book Report History 1050 6/18/2013 Introduction “American Slavery, 1619-1877” by Peter Kolchin gives an overview of the practice of slavery in America between 1619 and 1877. From the origins of slavery in the colonial period to the road to its abolition, the book explores the characteristics of slave culture as well as the racial mind-sets and development of the old South’s social structures.

When the first nineteen slaves arrived in Virginia in 1619, an institution that would last more than two hundred years was created. These first slaves were treated more like how the indentured servants that came to the New World from England were. However, as time passed and the colonies grew larger, so did the institution of slavery. Even after the importing slaves internationally was banned in 1807 by Congress, the internal slave trade expanded exponentially. The growth and durability of slavery persisted until the end of the Civil War, a time period greater than the entire existence of the United States. The institution of slavery was not only able to endure through two hundred fifty of turbulent change in America, but it was able to advance. This is due to the mindsets of slavery as a “necessary evil” and a “positive good” coupled with the dependence on them for such a large portion of the economy. These factors can be observed in the narratives written by Olaudah Equiano, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs.

Luckily, for those in power, there was a precedent for unpaid labor in the form of indentured servitude. The workforce made up of those working off their travel, food, and room and board had already proved useful and cost-effective in this new market. As fully owned slaves began to arrive there grew a need to fully define the differences under the law. Virginia enacted the earliest of such laws which began to define the status of those of African descent within the colonies. According to one of the laws: ”…any negroe, molatto,

In 1662, the state of “Virginia enacted a law of hereditary slavery meaning that a child born to an enslaved mother inherits her slave status. Massachusetts reversed a ruling dating back to 1652 that allowed blacks to train in arms. New York, Connecticut, and New Hampshire passed similar laws restricting the bearing of arms. In 1663 Maryland legalized slavery. In 1664, New York and New Jersey legalize slavery. In 1664, Maryland is the first colony to take legal action against marriages between white women and black men. In 1664, The State of Maryland mandated lifelong servitude for all black slaves. New York, New Jersey, the Carolinas, and Virginia all pass similar laws. In 1666, Maryland passed a fugitive slave law. In 1667, Virginia declared that Christian baptism will not alter a person 's status as a slave. In 1668, New Jersey passed a fugitive slave law. In 1670, The State of Virginia prohibited free blacks and Indians from keeping Christian (i.e. white) servants. In 1674, New York declared that blacks who convert to Christianity after their enslavement will not be freed.”

The earliest form of slavery in North America can be traced back to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. There, they were called the “Twenty and Odd” and considered servants rather than slaves. Though little is known about this infamous event, this ‘trade’ continued of capturing Africans from Africa and bringing them to the colonies of Britain. The usage of slaves increased and were often used as field laborers on plantations, house workers, blacksmiths

In 1619, Virginia was an isolated British settlement on the Chesapeake Bay. It was sparsely populated by men trying to make the colony profitable for England. But the colonists were devastated by hunger, disease, and raids by Native Americans. So when the White Lion, a badly damaged Dutch slave ship arrived, carrying 20 kidnapped black Africans, the colonists bartered food and services for the human cargo. The Africans started working for the colonists. They would work 7 years of hard labor in exchange for land and freedom. But when colonies started to prosper, the colonists were reluctant to lose their labor. Since the Africans did not have citizenship, they were not subject to English common law. They were workers with no rights.

Some were enacted to benefit the black population while other did not. The beneficial Black Codes in the State of Alabama, resulted in the repealing old laws “preventing the sale of liquors for free negroes and for other purposes.” Black’s possess the same rights as whites in court, to sue or be sued, testify and become witnesses in court proceedings. Preventing persons from interfering or induce laborers or servants to abandon their contracts. To the negative, Judges could “bind out as apprentices the children of any person unable to provide for their support, until the age of twenty-one years if a male, and sixteen years if a female,” later the age for female’s was changed to eighteen. Counties established poor-houses and houses of correction to utilized the placement of vagrants who were individuals the counties deem as “stubborn or refractory servant” or “loiters away his time.” Finally, laws defining the duties of master and apprentice, including the treatment authorized by masters to inflicted on their apprentices. The word “Slave” is conveniently substituted with the word “apprentice.” Vagrants, orphans, and children of parents who could not support were placed with masters as apprentices, in some cases placing freed slaves with their previous master. These Black Codes demonstrates some advances for blacks, however if they failed

The Virginia’s Statutes illustrate the declining Status of African American slaves was written because the state of Virginia wanted to state several rules and laws for their slaves. This document was written by the State of Virginia legislatures, being they were the ones who wrote it and established it.

In 1619 the first slaves were brought to Jamestown Virginia to help with the production of crops, such as tobacco and cotton. A Dutch ship brought twenty slaves over to be sold in Jamestown Virginia. These men were brought over as indentured servants, who were to be released after a certain time of working had been done. Unfortunately, not every slave was given this opportunity in the years to come. This was just the beginning of the nightmare that the African people would endure for many generations. (Doyle)

A plantation economy, an economy founded on an agricultural mass production like tobacco, sustained the source of income of the Chesapeake regions, consisting Virginia, Maryland, and northern North Carolina. The early settlers soon realized the urgent need for labor in the New World. Due to the fact that many potential

The limitation of this book is that this book could only dedicate about 10 pages in the slavery in Virginia. Since it covered so much time period, some details were overlooked.

The article I chose to do was Virginia Tightens Slave Codes(1691) because I wanted to see how the two documents differed from each other, and there was definitely a big difference between the two. One talked about using kindness to make their slaves hard workers and trustworthy, this document talked about killing slaves if they ran away or refused to return. This document was about how Virginia chose to deal with their vastly growing population of slaves. It talked about how if a slave went missing then they have to let the "sherrife" know by issuing out a warrant. It all said that if a slave resisted or refused to come back then it was lawful for someone to kill them in anyway they seemed fit. If a slave was killed then the owner would get

Terrynce Robinson Dr. Esing HIST 2010 05E 3/13/2017 Evolution of Slavery in Colonial America Slavery as we know today, is still considered one of the most talked about subjects in history. The historical backdrop of bondage in early America incorporates the absolute most disturbing stories from our past. Slavery began when African Slaves initially arrived in the North American settlement of Jamestown in 1619. These slaves helped with the creation of profoundly lucrative products such as tobacco. In this manner, it was absolutely a rural undertaking that would later provoke the presence of one of the chronicled treacheries done particularly to the African migrants. The issue took course during the sixteenth and eighteenth century American