The White Legal System In The 18Th Century

The 18th century saw the development of laws that aimed to limit the social, economic, and political autonomy of Africans, as well as control the growth of a free African population. These laws, known as Slave Codes, Black Codes, and Code Noir, were created to establish and maintain dominance over African members of society. While these laws restricted the rights of Africans, in some colonies, they were extended. The transformation of Negro servant to Negro slave was completed with the passage of the Slave Codes of 1705, which sealed the fate of Africans and their progeny for generations to come. These codes made slavery a permanent condition, inherited through the mother, and defined slaves as property.

In addition to the Slave Codes, other laws were passed to drive a wedge between white indentured servants and Africans. For example, the 1660 law in Virginia punished indentured servants who ran away with a Negro, forcing them to serve out the Negro's time of servitude. Anti-miscegenation laws, which prohibited interracial marriage, were also enacted during this time. These laws were used to maintain racial hierarchies and prohibit the mixing of races.

While the specific laws varied depending on the colony, the overall impact was the same: to enforce racial segregation and reinforce the power dynamics between whites and Africans.

Marriage laws

• In colonial America, marriage laws were heavily influenced by Puritan doctrine, which emphasised the sanctity of marriage and strict moral standards.
• The Marriage Act of 1753, also known as Lord Hardwicke's Act, was a landmark legislation in England that sought to regulate and formalise the marriage process. It required couples to obtain a valid marriage license, perform the marriage ceremony in a church or chapel, and have their banns publicly read for three consecutive Sundays before the wedding.
• Marriage laws varied by region and social class. Generally, couples were required to obtain a marriage license and have a public ceremony with witnesses present. In some cases, parental consent or guardian consent was also necessary if the individuals were underage.
• Interracial marriages were heavily frowned upon and, in many places, illegal in the 18th century. Colonies like Virginia and Maryland, which depended economically on slavery, enacted anti-miscegenation laws that prohibited marriage between whites and non-whites, particularly blacks, Native Americans, and later, Asians.
• The first anti-miscegenation laws in Virginia and Maryland pertained to marriages between whites and black or mulatto enslaved people and indentured servants. However, these laws eventually expanded to restrict marriages solely based on "race," regardless of class or servitude status.
• Over time, anti-miscegenation laws spread beyond the Southern colonies to places with fewer enslaved and free black people, such as Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Additionally, similar laws were enacted in territories and states that outlawed slavery after the independence of the United States.
• While some states in the North abolished slavery after independence, this had little impact on the enforcement of anti-miscegenation laws. An exception was Pennsylvania, which repealed its anti-miscegenation law in 1780, along with other restrictions on free Black people, as part of a bill for the gradual abolition of slavery.
• The Quaker planter and slave trader Zephaniah Kingsley, Jr. publicly advocated for racial mixing as a way to end slavery and produce healthier and more beautiful offspring. He practised this in Spanish Florida, where free people of colour had rights and could own and inherit property.
• The term "miscegenation" was first used during the American Civil War by journalists to discredit the abolitionist movement by stirring up debates over interracial marriage post-slavery.
• In 1866, Oregon passed one of the first anti-miscegenation laws in the Western United States, prohibiting marriages involving African Americans, Chinese individuals, and individuals of mixed race.
• In 1948, the California Supreme Court ruled that the state's anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional, becoming the first state since Ohio in 1887 to overturn such laws. This decision influenced 14 other states to repeal or overturn similar laws by 1967.
• In 1967, the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Loving v. Virginia that anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional, making it the last state to repeal its anti-miscegenation laws before Alabama in 2000.

Property rights

In the 18th century, the concept of property rights was evolving, with different laws and customs in different colonies. In general, property rights were limited for women, enslaved people, and those from African or indigenous backgrounds.

In the Southern colonies, where labour-intensive crops such as tobacco and indigo supported the economy, slaveholders slowly consolidated their control over the unpaid African labour force through a series of ever-more-restrictive slave codes. The transformation of African servants into African slaves was completed with the Virginia General Assembly's passage of the Slave Codes of 1705, which removed any uncertainty and sealed the fate of Africans and their descendants for generations to come. These codes made slavery a permanent condition, inherited through the mother, and defined slaves as property.

In the Middle Colonies, slavery was less prominent, and slave codes were less restrictive. In Pennsylvania, for example, enslaved Africans numbered only 5% of the population in 1750.

In Spanish America, enslaved Africans were protected by legal, religious, and social traditions based on 13th-century Castilian slave codes, which acknowledged them as human beings with moral and juridical personality. They had rights to fair treatment, to receive a share of their earnings, and to buy freedom. Their children did not necessarily become slaves, and they had a right to personal security and legal mechanisms to escape from a cruel master. A "slave" could legally own and transfer property, initiate lawsuits, and eventually self-purchase their freedom. This acknowledgement of a slave's humanity, legal rights, and liberal manumission policies made it possible for a substantial population of free Africans to exist in Florida and the southwest by the 18th century.

In the 18th century, women's property rights were also evolving, but they were still limited. By the beginning of the century, most newly formed American states followed British common law, which stipulated that husbands had complete control over any property their wives brought into the marriage. By the late 1700s, some states had begun to grant women limited property rights. In 1771, New York passed an act giving women a voice in how their husbands managed their joint assets. This required the wife's signature on any deed to property she brought into the marriage before her husband could sell or transfer it, and stipulated that a judge must meet privately with the wife to confirm her approval was not coerced. Soon after, Maryland and Massachusetts followed suit, expanding limited property rights to include women.

Education laws

In the 18th century, education was not yet compulsory and was mostly limited to the elite, with only a small percentage of the population attending school. Education was often controlled by religious institutions, particularly the Church of England, and was heavily influenced by religious teachings. Latin, Greek, and religion were common subjects taught in schools.

During this period, education was also closely tied to social class, with different educational opportunities available to the nobility, gentry, and commoners. The nobility typically received a classical education that included subjects such as Latin, Greek, history, mathematics, and riding. The gentry often sent their children to grammar schools, where they learned Latin, Greek, and sometimes French, along with subjects like history, geography, and mathematics. Commoners, on the other hand, had limited access to education, and their schooling often focused on basic literacy and religious instruction.

While there were some charitable schools for the poor, most working-class children did not receive a formal education and were instead expected to contribute to their family's income through labour. Apprenticeships were also common, where children learned a trade through hands-on training under a master craftsman.

In the American colonies during the 18th century, education was similarly restricted and varied depending on social class and region. In the Southern colonies, where labour-intensive crops such as tobacco and indigo were prevalent, the focus was on maintaining a system of unpaid labour, and education for enslaved Africans was limited or non-existent. In the Middle and Northern colonies, where the economy was more diverse, education was more accessible, and some colonies had laws that provided for the education of all children, regardless of social status.

Overall, the 18th century marked a period of transition in education, with the beginnings of public education and a slow shift towards recognising the importance of education for all, rather than just the elite. However, significant inequalities and restrictions in access to education persisted, particularly for those from lower social classes and racial minorities.

Military service laws

Military conscription, also known as the draft in American English, is the mandatory enlistment of citizens into national service, especially military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity, with the Babylonian Empire using a system of conscription called Ilkum, which granted those who served the right to hold land.

The modern system of near-universal national conscription for young men was established during the French Revolution in the 1790s, where it became the basis of a large and powerful military. This system was soon copied by most European nations in peacetime, with men serving between one and eight years on active duty before transferring to the reserve force.

In the 18th century, military conscription was not yet a common practice, with most European armies relying on mercenaries or volunteers. However, the Prussian "nation-in-arms" introduced universal, short-service conscription after their defeat at Jena and Auerstedt in 1806. This system of conscription was soon adopted by many other German states, and eventually by France in 1905.

During the 18th century, military service was restricted to the landowning minor nobility in Europe. These land-holding aristocrats were required to serve with their own armour and weapons for a certain number of days each year.

In the British colonies, military conscription was used to maintain dominance over African members of society. The bodies of law that evolved, known as "Slave Codes," "Black Codes," and "Code Noir," aimed to limit African social, economic, and political autonomy, as well as control the growth of a free African population.

In summary, while military conscription was not widely practiced in the 18th century, it became increasingly common in the following centuries, especially during times of war or crisis.

Housing laws

In the 18th century, the United States was still a relatively young nation, having only recently gained independence from Britain. During this period, the country was largely agrarian and rural, with a small but growing number of cities. As such, there were no large-scale housing laws at the federal level that applied specifically to white people. However, a range of local and regional laws and practices governed housing and land ownership, and these often had a significant impact on white people, as well as contributing to racial discrimination and segregation.

In the 18th century, land ownership was restricted in the United States, and this had an impact on white people, as well as other racial groups. Early European colonists claimed land from Native American tribes, forcing them to live in designated districts separate from colonial settlements. As these settlements grew, colonial governments appropriated more territory and limited the rights of Native Americans to own and sell property. This process of land dispossession and forced relocation continued into the 19th century and had a significant impact on Native American communities, disrupting their ways of life and often resulting in poverty and dispossession.

Additionally, in the decades following the American Revolution, the new US government seized lands from Native American tribes that had fought against the colonists, further reducing their land holdings and autonomy. This set the stage for increasing racial discrimination and segregation in housing and land ownership, as European Americans sought to exclude other racial groups from certain areas.

While the early US government did not pass federal housing laws, state and local governments enacted a range of measures that governed housing and land ownership. These laws often restricted the rights of free Black men to purchase land and limited the property ownership rights of other racial groups, including Native Americans and Asian Americans. Courts routinely invalidated gifts and transfers of property to Black people, and social norms also enforced residential segregation, with Asian laborers, for example, forced to live in ethnic enclaves.

The lack of federal involvement in housing policy changed during the Great Depression when the federal government, seeking to stimulate the economy, created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to insure home mortgages and make it easier for Americans to buy homes. However, the FHA only insured loans on newly constructed housing in stable, segregated neighborhoods, as defined by local real estate boards, thus excluding most racial minorities from accessing low-cost mortgage credit and better-quality housing. This practice, known as "redlining," had a significant impact on racial minorities, including white people who were not considered part of the dominant racial group.

In summary, while there were no federal housing laws specifically targeting white people in the 18th century, local and regional laws and practices governed housing and land ownership and contributed to racial discrimination and segregation, with long-lasting impacts on the distribution of wealth, access to education and employment, and overall quality of life for different racial groups in the United States.

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