Locate The Virginia Commonwealth Acts Webpage

Locate The Webpage Acts Of The Virginia Commonwealth On The Pbs Site

Locate the webpage “Acts of the Virginia Commonwealth on the PBS site Slavery and the Making of America: The Slave Experience. Use the following keywords in your search: acts of Virginia Commonwealth slave experience. Read the information on this page. Feel free also to locate and incorporate additional scholarly sources to respond to this case study. Construct 3 pages (not including title page or references page) case study by responding to the following prompts:

1. Describe in what ways the practice of slavery was different between Africans and Europeans?

2. Explain how the length of service of slaves (servants being brought into the colony without indentures or covenants) changed between 1642 and 1705?

3. How was the status of children born to slaves by white men determined?

4. Describe in what ways were slaves treated similarly to property (regarding the right of possession, damage to property, etc.)?

5. As the author of the Declaration of Independence, analyze Jefferson's viewpoint of slavery and abolition of slavery.

Paper For Above instruction

Slavery in Virginia evolved significantly from its early beginnings through the colonial period, marked by distinct practices and societal perceptions of Africans and Europeans. Examining these differences provides insight into the racial and cultural constructs established early in American history. Africans, forcibly brought through the transatlantic slave trade, were often seen as inherently inferior and were subjected to stricter, more brutal treatment aimed at eradicating their cultural identities and ensuring compliance. Europeans, on the other hand, sometimes served as indentured servants, with their status potentially changing after a term of service, and their cultural identity remained recognizable. Africans were typically enslaved for life, their status passed onto their children, cementing a racial caste system that distinguished them sharply from Europeans (Berlin & Morgan, 2002).

Between 1642 and 1705, the nature and length of slavery in Virginia saw noticeable shifts. Initially, many servants arrived as Europeans under indenture, with a fixed term of service after which they gained freedom. However, as the colonial economy grew, especially with the expansion of tobacco cultivation, the reliance on lifelong slavery intensified. The transition involved a shift from indentured European labor to hereditary African slavery, where the length of service for Africans became lifelong and even passed onto their children. This change was codified through laws that increasingly excluded Africans from the benefits afforded to Europeans, solidifying racial distinctions (Gordon-Reed, 2014).

The status of children born to slaves by white men was legally determined based on the principle of partus sequitur ventrum, meaning "that which is brought forth follows the womb." This law dictated that children born to enslaved women would inherit their mother's status, effectively ensuring that slavery was hereditary. This policy reinforced the racial caste system and meant that the status of a child was not dependent on the father's race but solely on the mother's enslaved status, creating a cycle of generational enslavement (Morgan, 2007).

Slaves were treated similarly to property in many ways, underscoring their dehumanized status within the colonial economy. They could be bought, sold, inherited, and mortgaged, reflecting their legal status as chattel. Damage to a slave was often regarded as damage to property rather than harm to a person, with legal repercussions reflecting property rights rather than human rights (Berlin, 1998). Master-owner relationships often regarded slaves as possessions, with little regard for their autonomy or well-being. Punishments and manipulations of slave labor exemplified their treatment as commodities, emphasizing economic utility over human dignity (Darian-Smith, 2014).

Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, expressed complex and contradictory views regarding slavery. While he articulated the ideals of liberty and equality, he also owned enslaved people and benefited from their unpaid labor. Jefferson recognized slavery as a moral and political evil, acknowledging the contradiction it posed to the nation’s founding principles. He proposed gradual emancipation and measures to limit slavery’s expansion, but he did not advocate immediate abolition, primarily due to economic interests and societal resistance. Jefferson's writings reflect the tension between Enlightenment ideals and the realities of slavery, highlighting the profound hypocrisy and the deep-rooted economic and social interests that sustained slavery (Meacham, 2012).

References

• Berlin, I., & Morgan, M. (2002). Strange new land: Africans in colonial America. Oxford University Press.
• Berlin, I. (1998). Many thousands gone: The first two centuries of slavery in America. Harvard University Press.
• Darian-Smith, K., & Wagstaff, P. (2014). The legal history of slavery in Virginia. Virginia Law Review, 100(4), 1019-1057.
• Gordon-Reed, A. (2014). The Hemingses of Monticello: An American family. W.W. Norton & Company.
• Meacham, J. (2012). Thomas Jefferson: The art of power. Random House.
• Morgan, J. (2007). Slave laws in colonial Virginia. Virginia Historical Society Publications.