Editing Barbados Slave Code (section)

==Wider influence==
Throughout [[British colonization of the Americas|British North America]], slavery evolved in practice before it was codified into law. The Barbados slave code of 1661 marked the beginning of the legal codification of slavery. According to historian [[Russell Menard]], "Since Barbados was the first English colony to write a comprehensive slave code, its code was especially influential."<ref name=menard>[https://books.google.com/books?id=FyB24GZrJxAC&pg=PA112 Sweet Negotiations: Sugar, Slavery, and Plantation Agriculture in Early Barbados], Chapter 6 ''The Expansion of Barbados'', p. 112</ref>

The Barbados Slave Code served as the basis for the slave codes adopted in several other [[British America]]n colonies, including [[Colony of Jamaica|Jamaica]],<ref>https://slaveryandfreedomlaws.lib.unb.ca/laws/jamaica-1664-0</ref> [[Province of Carolina|Carolina]] (1696), [[Province of Georgia|Georgia]], and [[Antigua]].<ref>https://slaveryandfreedomlaws.lib.unb.ca/laws/antigua-1702-0</ref> In other colonies where the codes are not an exact copy, such as [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]] and [[Province of Maryland|Maryland]], the influence of the Barbados Slave Code can be traced throughout various provisions.<ref name=menard /><ref>[https://eh.net/book_reviews/atlantic-virginia-intercolonial-relations-in-the-seventeenth-century/ Atlantic Virginia: Intercolonial Relations in the Seventeenth Century]</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Paton|first=D.|date=2001-06-01|title=Punishment, Crime, and the Bodies of Slaves in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica|url=https://academic.oup.com/jsh/article-lookup/doi/10.1353/jsh.2001.0066|journal=Journal of Social History|language=en|volume=34|issue=4|pages=923–954|doi=10.1353/jsh.2001.0066|pmid=18754158 |s2cid=29531689 |issn=0022-4529|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The legal basis for slavery was established in [[Mexico]] in 1636. These statutes created the status of [[Chattel slavery|chattel]] slave for those of African descent, i.e. they were slaves for life and the status of slave was inherited. Slave status passed to children through the mother in these statutes. Virginia's 1662 statute reads, "All children borne in this country shall be held bond or free only according to the condition of the mother."<ref>Hening, William Waller. ''The Statutes at Large, Being the  Collection of All the Laws of Virginia from the Third Session of the Legislature in the Year 1619''. 13 vols. Richmond: W. Gray Printers, 1819. 3:252</ref>