Act XII, Laws of Virginia MOST directly supports the chattel slave system by outlining a scenario in which an enslaved mother's children remain enslaved. This provision establishes a hereditary basis for slavery, meaning that the status of children as slaves or free individuals is determined by the status of their mother, which reinforces the system of chattel slavery where the condition of enslaved individuals is passed on to their offspring. This legal framework is fundamental to the maintenance and perpetuation of the chattel slave system.
9. Source 1:
"WHEREAS some doubts have arrisen whether children got by any
Englishman upon a Negro woman should be slave or free, Be it therefore
enacted and declared by this present grand assembly, that all children
borne in this country shalbe held bond or free only according to the
condition of the mother, And that if any christian shall committ ffornication
with a Negro man or woman, hee or shee soe offending shall pay double
the ffines imposed by the former act."
-"Act XII", Laws of Virginia, December 1662
Source 2:
"And for prevention of that abominable mixture and spurious issue which
hereafter may encrease in this dominion, as well by negroes, mulattoes,
and Indians intermarrying with English, or other white women, as by their
unlawfull accompanying with one another, Be it enacted by the authoritie
aforesaid, and it is hereby enacted, that for the time to come, whatsoever
English or other white man or woman being free shall intermarry with a
negroe, mulatto, or Indian man or woman bond or free shall within three
months after such marriage be banished and removed from this dominion
forever..."
- Act XVI, Laws of Virginia, April 1691
In which way does Act XII, Laws of Virginia MOST directly support the
chattel slave system?
It combines moral judgments and punishments with legal rulings on slavery.
It outlines a scenario in which an enslaved mother's children remain enslaved.
It establishes distinctions in legal standing between enslaved men and women.
It assumes clear racial and social distinctions between white and black races.
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