"Whereas some doubts have arisen whether children produced by any Englishman
and 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 shall be held bond,
or free only according to the condition of the mother. And if any Christian shall
commit fornication with a negro man or woman, he or she so offending shall pay
double the fines imposed by the former act."
-Source: Virginia slave law passed by the House of Burgesses in December 1662
Which of the following describes the change highlighted in the excerpt?
Choose 1 answer:
A
B
D
4
Slave owners kept enslaved families together and refused to separate children from
their mothers.
Colonial law determined that a child of a British colonist and an enslaved person of
African descent was free.
Enslaved people of African descent received legal protections after they converted
to Christianity.
Children inherited enslaved status through their mother's line for life.