1669

In 1669, the Virginia legislative assembly enacted a law regarding the “casual killing of a slave,” which stated that if a slave died while resisting their master, the act would not be presumed to have been committed with “premeditated malice.” This law effectively provided legal protection for slave owners and those who used violence against enslaved individuals, thereby reinforcing the legal and social framework that justified and perpetuated slavery. By removing the presumption of malice, the law allowed for more lenient treatment of violence against slaves and reinforced the brutal and dehumanizing conditions of slavery in colonial Virginia.