A Timeline of the Virginia Slave Laws

In this scrollable interactive, we present a timeline of events that took place in the state of Virginia during the 17th and 18th centuries. These events, as well as related developments, were influential in the creation of a racial hierarchy, which continues to impact US society today. Virginia is an important site because it was the first British settlement in North America and was particularly influential in the process of legalizing slavery.

References

Digital History. (n.d.) Frederick Douglass timeline. https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/exhibits/douglass_exhibit/douglass_timeline.html Kendi, I. X., & Blain, K. N. (Eds.). (2021). Four hundred souls : A community history of African America, 1619-2019. One World. Murphy, L. W. (2012, July 2). Historic reading of Declaration of Independence by African American descendant of signer. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/historic-reading-declaration-independence-african-american-descendant-signer National Museum of African American History and Culture. (n.d.). Historical foundations of race. Smithsonian. https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race/topics/historical-foundations-race Painter, N. I. (2010). The history of white people. W. W. Norton & Company. Reece, R. M. (2022). Slave past, modern lives: An analysis of the legacy of slavery and contemporary life expectancy in the American South. Journal of Black Studies, 53(7), 677–702. https://doi.org/10.1177/00219347221095167 The Lowcountry Digital History Initiative. (2013). New world labor systems: European indentured servants. https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/africanpassageslowcountryadapt/introductionatlanticworld/new-world-labor-systems--europ Washington University in St. Louis: University Libraries. (2022) Created equal: Slavery and the Declaration of Independence. https://library.wustl.edu/exhibitions/created-equal/

Topics

  • health equity
  • public health
  • medical discrimination
  • equity
  • racism
  • inclusion
  • diversity
  • belonging
  • RDEISE
  • antiracism
  • history
  • slavery
  • laws
  • enslavement
  • slave laws
  • Virginia
  • Civil War
  • Declaration of Independence
  • Abraham Lincoln
  • Frederick Douglass
  • Harriet Tubman
  • Underground Railroad