jan 1, 1705 - Slave Law
Description:
Blacks -- both free and enslaved -- are denied the right to testify as witnesses in court cases.
All black, mulatto, and Indian slaves are considered real property.
Free men of color lose the right to hold public officer.
Enslaved men are not allowed to serve in the militia.
In An act concerning Servants and Slaves, Virginia's lawmakers
- increase the indenture of a mulatto child born to a white woman to 31 years.
- determine that if a white man or white woman marries a black partner, the white individual will be sent to jail for six months and fined 10 pounds current money of Virginia.
- determine that any minister who marries an interracial couple will be assessed a fine of 10,000 pounds of tobacco.
- determine that any escaped slave who is unwilling or unable to name his or her owner will be sent to the public jail.
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