Home — Liberty of Conscience: The Founding of Maryland — Lesson Starters — Analyzing the Shift from Indentured Servitude to Race-Based Slavery

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Were children of enslaved Africans and whites enslaved?

“The idea that people who were of different races but still very much acquainted with one another (husband and wife, wife and husband) also is something that the laws attempted to address. The most notable of those Maryland examples is a woman named Eleanor and her husband.

“Eleanor came from Ireland in the late 1670s, early 1680s. She was an indentured servant of the proprietor of the colony. When she arrived here, however, she fell in love and married an enslaved African man. Under the laws that existed, Eleanor would have been enslaved for the duration of her husband's life. And Eleanor's children would be slaves to her husband's master. But, probably because of the importance of her husband's master (the proprietor), the legislature tried to address the situation. What comes out of this is a distinction between who will and who will not be enslaved.

“So, after that point, slavery is something that only occurs to Africans and the children of African women (or women of African descent). So you see a tinkering with, a working with, a reconsideration of these laws in a way that the final product is that slavery is for people of African descent and for them only.”