The Currency That Was Slavery Essay

The Currency That Was Slavery The Colonial Laws of 1662-1769 were structured and written at a time in which slaves were brought to Virginia to establish the newly forming tobacco industry. These laws were made to counter arising problems of what the churchwardens saw as sexual misconduct and a possible disruption of the structure of slavery. Through the detailed regulations against any fornication involving members of the indigenous race, it is clear to see that the Colonial Laws were established to keep slavery as a means of currency. Yet the only way that could be achieved was to make sure Negros were never freed.
These laws were established to make sure slavery continued to exist. This was important because slavery was viewed as currency …show more content…
It defined womanhood because of how it split the treatment of white women versus the treatment of black women. They were divided into two groups, wives and wenches, honorable women (white) and dishonorable women (black). By the time the law of 1769 was written it was easy to see that white women’s sexuality was protected while black women’s was still left defenseless. Wives were considered virgins and wenches considered whores. The sexuality of white women was guarded and they were encouraged to be pure and monogamous. Because of the high likelihood of rape by their masters, it was difficult for black females to be considered virgins. Lawmakers helped make the wife/wench social split more prominent through these laws because the law protected white women but did not protect black women. Being a virgin or married to a white man became the basis of womanhood for white females because it was encouraged. Black women on the other had no sense of womanhood because all sexual acts, consensual or not, were punishable in some shape or form. Even if black females wanted to remain virgins, the choice was not up to them. Black female servants couldn’t marry black male servants without consequence and they were already seen as nothing more than servants to their masters. The divide in sexual power and protection …show more content…
Black women’s sexuality was left fully unprotected, making incidents such as rape, acceptable and justifiable. Another consequence of these laws was that there was never an opportunity to have a community of free Negros because of how harshly these rules were enforced. Because lawmakers, white masters, and the government wanted to make a profit, these laws were enacted in the attempt to never have a free slave. This is why such a community never came to exist because the lawmakers wouldn’t let