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Laws of Virginia, 1662 Act XII; Latin added by Willian Henig, “The Statutes at Large”, 1819
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Whereas some doubts have arisen whether children got by any Englishman upon a negro woman shall be slave of free. Be it therefore enacted and declared by this present grand assembly, that all children borne in this country shall be held bond or free only according to the condition of the mother-“Partus Sequitur Ventrem”. And that if any Christian shall commit fornication with a negro man or woman, hee or shee soe offending shall pay double the fines imposed by the former act.

— Enslaved women's resistance in the United States and Caribbean

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Whereas some doubts have arisen whether children got by any Englishman upon a negro woman shall be slave of free. Be it therefore enacted and declared by this present grand assembly, that all children borne in this country shall be held bond or free only according to the condition of the mother-“Partus Sequitur Ventrem”. And that if any Christian shall commit fornication with a negro man or woman, hee or shee soe offending shall pay double the fines imposed by the former act." in the context of "Laws of Virginia, 1662 Act XII; Latin added by Willian Henig, “The Statutes at Large”, 1819" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Enslaved women's resistance in the United States and Caribbean" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 19, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

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Enslaved women

About Enslaved women's resistance in the United States and Caribbean

Enslaved women were expected to maintain the enslaved populations, which led women to rebel against this expectation via contraception and abortions. Infanticide was also committed as a means to protect children from either becoming enslaved or from returning to enslavement.