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Scan of a book print dated October 1705 outlining provisions of the act "concerning servants and slaves."
"An act concerning indentured servants and slaves" passed by the Virginia General Assembly (1705).

Virginia Slave Codes passed: the origin of the "one-drop" rule.

1705

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"An act concerning indentured servants and slaves" passed by the Virginia General Assembly (1705).

These laws make slavery permanent for "Negroes," "mulattoes," and "Indians" by defining these people as "real estate." The slave codes define anyone who has 1/8 African parentage as "Black," and anyone who has 1/2 Native parentage as "Native." This is the origin of the "one-drop" rule for African ancestry, and the "1/2 or more" rule for Natives, which later becomes the basis for "blood quantum." "White" continues to be defined as a synonym for "Christian" and "English," but also as "not-Black" and "not-Indian." The laws contain many other rulings, including prohibiting anyone from transporting an enslaved person or servant out of the colony.