Discuss the conditions and treatment of Africans and their descendants in colonial Virginia between 1629
and 1705. Utilize at least five different Acts (statutes) to show how race determined the relationship
between English and Africans during seventeenth century Virginia.
Virginia Statutes Relating to Colonial Slavery
October 1629-ACT IX: An act distinguishing between the work of English and African women
January 1639/40-ACT X: An act creating a legal distinction between white and black men.
December 1662-ACT XII: An act applying the status of the mother on children.
September 1667-ACT III: An act declaring that baptism did not alter the status of slaves.
October 1669-ACT I: An act legalizing the punishment and killing of slaves.
October 1670-ACT IV: An act prohibiting free blacks and Native Americans from owning white
servants.
September 1672-ACT VIII: An act to suppress the rebellious activities of slaves.
April 1691-ACT XVI: An act attempting to suppress runaway slave communities.
October 1705-CHAP. IV: An act that contains the first definition of a mulatto in Virginia’s laws.
October 1705-CHAP. XXII: An act declaring the Negro, Mulatto, and Indian slaves real estate.
October 1705-CHAP. XLIX: An act that provides a definition of who would become a slave upon
entering Virginia.