page_title: Partus sequitur ventrem
hierarchical_section_title: Partus sequitur ventrem
caption_attribution_description: English: Title: The modern Medea - the story of Margaret Garner [Margaret Garner, a slave who escaped from Kentucky to Ohio; her 4 children, 2 of which she killed so they would not have to endure slavery, lying dead on floor; and 4 men who pursued her] Abstract/medium: 1 print&#160;: wood engraving.
context_page_description: In the history of slavery, the legal doctrine of Partus sequitur ventrem determined the legal status of freedom or enslavement for the children borne by slave women in the English royal colonies. The legal doctrine of partus sequitur ventrem derived from the European systems of civil law and concerned personal property. In colonial law, the partus doctrine justified enslavement, as chattels personal, of the native peoples of the Americas where the Spanish empire and the Portuguese empire, the French colonial empire and the Dutch empire established settler colonies to exploit the natural resources of the New World.
  As the colonial law in British America, the partus doctrine established de facto and de jure slave status to every child born to a woman slave; the legislation was applied and enforced through the local laws that regulated slavery in the North American colonies. As a function of the political economy of chattel slavery, the legalism of partus sequitur ventrem exempted the biological father from his food-and-shelter obligations towards children he fathered with a slave woman.
context_section_description: In the history of slavery, the legal doctrine of Partus sequitur ventrem (L. “That which is brought forth follows the belly”; also partus) determined the legal status of freedom or enslavement for the children borne by slave women in the English royal colonies. The legal doctrine of  partus sequitur ventrem derived from the European systems of civil law and concerned personal property (chattels). In colonial law, the partus doctrine justified enslavement, as chattels personal, of the native peoples of the Americas (northern, central, southern) where the Spanish empire (1492–1976) and the Portuguese empire (1543–1975), the French colonial empire (1534–1980) and the Dutch empire (1450–1999) established settler colonies to exploit the natural resources of the New World.
  As the colonial law in British America (1607–1783), the partus doctrine established de facto and de jure slave status to every child born to a woman slave; the legislation was applied and enforced through the local laws that regulated slavery in the North American colonies (1526–1776). As a function of the political economy of chattel slavery, the legalism of partus sequitur ventrem exempted the biological father from his food-and-shelter obligations towards children he fathered with a slave woman. The denial of paternity to slave children secured the slavers' right to profit from exploiting the labour of children born into slavery.
caption: The Modern Medea—Margaret Garner (1867) illustrates that an escaped woman slave killed her two eldest sons to thwart their enslavement by four slavers.
exif: {"Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Artist": "Library of Congress", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered"}