 Acts of the General Assembly of Virginia Colony |
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Between 1639 and 1691, Virginia Colony established a series of statutes that increasingly limited the rights of Indigenous and Black residents while expanding the rights of Europeans. These acts reflect the increasing racialization of the colonial legal code.
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| Administration of Justice Act |
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One of the Intolerable Acts, the Administration of Justice Act was known as the Murder Act by colonists. The Administration of Justice Act allowed the Governor to remove any acquisition placed on a royal official if the governor did not believe the official would receive a fair trial. Colonists referred to this act as the Murder Act because they believed it would allow royal officials to get away with murder. The Intolerable, or Coercive, Acts were passed as a reaction to the Boston Tea party to reduce the rights of Massachusetts colonists and strengthen royal control over the colony. After this act and the other Intolerable Acts were passed, the First Continental Congress met to formalize a reaction to the perceived overstepping of British parliament.
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| An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa |
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A first-person account of what the slave trade looked like and the conditions on slave ships. The account demonstrates the cognitive dissonance between understanding that enslaved people are humans and the profit-centered ways they were treated.
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| An act concerning Servants and Slaves |
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This act passed by the Virginia General Assembly reflects the increasing racialization of the colonial legal code. Among other things, it stated that an enslaved person's being in England did not make him or her free without proof of manumission. It also stated that non-white people could only purchase servants "of their own complexion."
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| An act declaring the Negro, Mulatto, and Indian slaves within this dominion, to be real estate |
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This act passed by the Virginia General Assembly reflects the increasing racialization of the colonial legal code. It transformed enslaved people from chattel property to real estate.
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| Articles of Peace and Amity |
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This treaty, signed between the English colony of Maryland and twelve Eastern Woodland Native American nations, stipulated the rights of Native peoples and their lands and established regulations for interactions between Native Americans and English colonists. The document reflects an already established relationship between the colonists and Native nations by 1666.
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| Boston Port Act |
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One of the Intolerable or Coercive Acts, the Boston Port Act closed Boston harbor to all commerce until the city paid for the tea destroyed during the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Port Act attempted to subdue Boston’s revolutionary residents. After this act and the other Intolerable Acts were passed, the First Continental Congress met to formalize a reaction to the perceived overstepping of British parliament.
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| Charter of Delaware |
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The charter for the colony of Delaware guarantees the residents of the colony “freedom of their consciences” as well as religious freedom, stating that if these are abridged no man can be truly happy. It also sets up the rules and values of the colony’s government. Colonial charters outline the boundaries of their colony and set up a government for the colony. These documents provide insight into the values of the colonies’ founders. The Delaware charter also provides limits on the governor’s powers including setting up the terms for impeachment.
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| Charter of Georgia |
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The charter of Georgia sets up the rules and values of the colony’s government. Georgia was founded as a place to relocate debtors of London to give them a chance to make a living and pay back their debts. The colony’s location buffered profitable South Carolina from the Spanish Colonies and Native Americans in Florida and beyond. Colonial charters outline the boundaries of their colony and set up a government for the colony. Colonial charters provide insight into the values of the colonies’ founders. The Charter of Georgia limited the amount of land individuals could own because of its goals to relocate the poor.
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| Charter of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations |
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The charter for the colony of Rhode Island specifically guarantees religious and civil freedom. It also sets up the rules and values of the colony’s government. Colonial charters outline the boundaries of their colony and set up a government for the colony. These documents provide insight into the values of the colonies’ founders. Rhode Island was among the first states to end slavery in 1787, and this document is a precursor that emphasizes civil liberties. The charter’s emphasis on religious freedom meant that many religious dissenters settled there.
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| Code Noir |
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A set of laws in French colonies that regulated the lives of enslaved and free black people. The code primarily defined slavery, but it also expelled all Jewish people from French colonies and required Black people to be Catholic and not protestant. The Code Noir demonstrates the way enslaved people's lives were regulated under French colonial rule.
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| Debt Recovery Act |
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The Debt Recovery Act of 1732 was a British law that allowed enslaved people to be used as collateral for loans. This sharply contrasted the Spanish colonial policy that prevented enslaved people from being used as collateral.
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| Defining Race & Lifelong Servitude in the Colonial Americas |
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This module links Spanish colonial documents from the turn of the sixteenth century to British colonial innovations in the seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries, demonstrating how European colonists developed a racialized hierarchy that justified the widespread enslavement of Africans and their descendants.
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| Emmanuel Downing to John Winthrop |
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Downing's letter to Winthrop shows changing colonial attitudes to race and practices of enslavement.
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| Juan Domingo Lopez v. Francis Phillips |
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In this colonial era freedom suit, attorney Samuel Chase argued that slavery was "odious to the British Constitution" and freedom a "Natural Right" two years before Lord Mansfield did the same in Somerset v. Stewart.
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| Lord Dunmore's Proclamation |
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In this proclamation, Lord Dunmore, the last Royal Governor of Virginia, declared martial law in the colony at the start of the American Revolution. He incentivized enslaved people to join the British Army by offering them freedom in exchange for service, which in turn helped mobilize American enslavers against the British Army.
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| Margaret Quando v. Thomas Wheeler |
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This colonial freedom suit was brought by Margaret Quando, a free Black woman, on behalf of her two daughters, who were caught up in an indenture scam by Thomas Wheeler. The court found in favor of the Quando women.
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| Maryland Toleration Act |
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The Maryland Toleration Act, also known as “An Act Concerning Religion,” was the first law in North America requiring religious tolerance. It aimed to protect Christians from discrimination and protected the practice of Christian religion in the colony of Maryland. The Act also states that cursing God or blasphemy are punishable by death. This act protects religion for Christian denominations but still punishes those who are non-religious or not Christian.
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| Massachusetts Body of Liberties |
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The Massachusetts Body of Liberties was the first legal code formed in the New England colonies. It established individual rights and protections that would later influence the U.S. Bill of Rights.
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| Massachusetts Government Act |
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One of the Intolerable or Coercive Acts, the Massachusetts Government Act gave the right to appoint a governor of Massachusetts to the King and Queen. This act was passed following the Boston Tea party and restructured Massachusetts’s government to give the monarchy more control over the colony. After this act and the other Intolerable Acts were passed, the First Continental Congress met to formalize a reaction to the perceived overstepping of British parliament.
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| Mayflower Compact |
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The Mayflower Compact is the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It establishes the men that will make governing decisions for the new colony. The founders of the Plymouth Colony left England because they felt the reformation had not gone far enough in England and were dissatisfied with the Church of England. Despite this, the Mayflower Compact still pledges loyalty to the King.
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| New York Charter of Liberties and Privileges |
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The New York Charter of Liberties and Privileges established the political organization of the colony of New York, set up election procedures, and guaranteed certain rights to colonists. This document created a democratic colony with the right to vote for the General Assembly given to "every freeholder within this province and freeman in any corporation." Extra protection is granted to Christians, although the document allows for religious freedom given practice does not "disturb the peace of the colony."
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| Plymouth, Massachusetts, Colonial Court Cases |
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These excerpts from the Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England document Native Peoples' engagement with the law after a 1641 code grants due process.
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| Quartering Act (1765) |
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A part of the American Mutiny Act, the Quartering Act required American colonists to house and board British soldiers. The Act placed financial burden of quartering soldiers on the colonies. It specified the supplies soldiers of different ranks were expected to be furnished with by the colonies, and the costs associated with failure to comply. This act is the reason the Third Amendment was included in the Constitution of the United States. Like the Stamp and Sugar Acts, the Quartering Act forced colonists into extra financial responsibilities without any representation in Parliament.
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| Quartering Act (1774) |
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One of the Intolerable or Coercive Acts, the Quartering Act of 1774 expanded the Quartering Act of 1765 to allow soldiers to be housed in private homes. While the other Intolerable Acts applied directly to Massachusetts, the Quartering Act applied to all of colonial North America. After this act and the other Intolerable Acts were passed, the First Continental Congress met to formalize a reaction to the perceived overstepping of British parliament.
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