jan 1, 1662 - Partus sequitur ventrum

Description:

'Partus sequitur ventrum' was a law passed by the Virginia Assembly as a response to the Key Grinstead trial declaring that the legal status of a child follows its mother rather than its father.

This principle made slavery multigenerational by ensuring that any child born to a female slave, regardless of paternity, would be a slave for life unless explicitly declared free.

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