On May 7, 2008, at 9:04 PM, Ed Truslow wrote: > It is also my understandiing that Virginia did not have a > miscegenation law until 1691 so the Rolfe-Pocahontas marriage was > not a legal problem. Could anyone confirm that? > > Edward Truslow > Williamsburg, Vrginia Ed, Below is a partial history (with citations!!!) of Virginia's racial integrity laws. These laws are relevant for this discussion because Mildred was both Native and African American. 1682--This is when the admixture of African blood came to symbolize that which was non-white. By act, the Assembly ordered Indian women tithables “to pay levies in like manner as negroe women brought into this country doe, and ought to pay.” This is the first linkage between Africans and Virginia Indians. (William Hening, ed., _Statutes of Virginia_, II:490-492) 1691--Virginia passed its first anti-miscegenation law, “An Act for Suppressing Outlying Slaves.” The Assembly banned intermarriage between a free “white man or woman . . . [and] any negroe, mulatto, or Indian man or woman bond or free.” (William Hening, ed., _Statutes of Virginia_, III:87) The is the law that first suggests a bi-racial Virginia. 1705--The Virginia Assembly passed a series of laws, that barred any “negro, mulatto, or Indian” from voting, holding office, or testifying in court proceedings (among other things like serving in the militia). (William Hening, ed., _Statutes of Virginia_, III:250-51) Again, this law effectively linked Indians and Africans as non-whites. These "black codes" mark the creation of a "biracial" culture in Virginia. 1723--Non-whites were permitted to testify against slaves (but not against whites until after the Civil War). (William Hening, ed., _Statutes of Virginia_, IV:126-128) 1830s--The term "persons of color" came to describe both Indians and free blacks. The term "colored people" became more common later in the century and also had a more restricted meaning. There is a whole separate trajectory (not discussed here) on the transition in popular literature and legal codes from "colored" to "negro" to "black." PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE WORDING HERE!! 1833--"An Act for Certifying Indians" declared that Indians could receive a certificate, based solely on their white neighbors testimony, that Indians were "persons of mixed blood not being free negroes or a mulattoes." The certificate DID NOT declare the bearer as Indian; rather, it simply stated that individual was not a free negro or mulatto, and as such, the certificate protected the individual from the "pains, penalties, disabilities, and disqualifications imposed by law upon free negroes and mulattoes as free negroes and mulattoes." OUCH!! (_Acts of the Assembly_, 1832-1833, p. 51) 1866--The Virginia Assembly defined Indians for the first time in Virginia’s history!!!! “Every person having one-fourth or more of negro blood shall be deemed a colored person, and every person not a colored person having one-fourth or more of Indian blood shall be deemed an Indian.” (_Acts of the Assembly_, 1865-1866, pp. 84-85) This is the first time the Virginia codes use the term "colored person." 1910--Virginia defined a "colored person" as anyone with 1/16th African ancestry. (_Acts of the Assembly_, 1910, p. 581) 1924--Virginia’s Racial Integrity Law defined a “white person” as one “who has no trace whatsoever of any blood other than Caucasian.” Except . . . to account for the few Virginia elites who traced their ancestry to Pocahontas, the law allowed that "persons who have one- sixteenth or less of the blood of the American Indian and have no other non-Caucasic blood shall be deemed white persons." Notice, this law defines white people (and Pocahontas's descendants). (_Acts of the Assembly_, 1923-1924, p. 468) 1930--The Assembly made the definition of non-whites more explicit: "Every person in whom there is ascertainable any Negro blood shall be deemed and taken to be a colored person, and every person not a colored person having one-fourth or more of American Indian blood shall be an American Indian; except that the members of Indian tribes living on reservations allotted them by the Commonwealth having one- fourth or more of Indian blood and less than one-sixteenth of Negro blood shall be deemed tribal Indians so long as they are domiciled on such reservations." (_Acts of the Assembly_, 1929-1930, pp. 96-97) 1954--The state began to ameliorate the racial identity of Indians: "members of Indian tribes existing in this Commonwealth having one- fourth or more of Indian blood and less than one-sixteenth of Negro blood shall be deemed tribal Indians." The tribal chiefs determined who were "tribal Indians." (_Acts of the Assembly_, 1954, p. 905) 1967--In Loving v. Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Virginia's anti-miscegenetion law. (Loving v. Virginia, 388 U. S. 1 [1967]) 1975--The state of Virginia repealed all laws that defined race. (_Acts of the Assembly_, 1975, pp. 1172-1174) Hopefully, this will inject some sense of the facts into this discussion. Best, Edward Ragan ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html