Step by Step (Slave Codes)

           Step by step  
           Step by step by 
           Step by step

Give the Whites an acre on the edge of town
A rifle to convince them that they’re safe and sound 
Naturally it's for their own protection
That's how we plan to have them keep the Native population down

Whip the Whites who try to hide Black runaways
Reward them for reporting those who disobey
Excommunicate interracial married couples who cohabitate
We can't afford another coalition that would
Compromise our fragile capital position any day
Not in any way  

(1662) Virginia Statute Act 12: 
Be it enacted and declared that all children born in this country – bond or free – shall be held only according to the condition of the mother.

(1660) Virginia Statute Act 22:
Be it therefore enacted that any captured English servant accompanying a runaway Negro must serve time for said Negro's absence.

(1691) Virginia Statute Act 41:
Any white man or woman whatsoever being free who intermarries with a negro, mulatto or Indian shall be banished and removed from this dominion forever.
           Step by step 
           Step by step by 
           Step by step

Bacon was the warning shot across the bow
His strategy is nagging at me even now
His workers found a way to work together
Their appetite for joining Black and White is what we can't allow

Strip some Blacks and rip their backs out in the square
We'll treat them like a feature at the county fair
By day or night when Black and White assemble
Defiance from any alliance should be punished everywhere

The children of the slaves we own as property
           (cause that's the law)
We lynch them when they stray from home improperly
           (cause that's our job)
Here's some good advice
Never let them make you have to give an order twice

("La-la-la-la": repeat over following phrases with fingers in ears)

They're simple-minded and uncivilized
Any independence should be neutralized

As pious and devoted men of God
We should never feel we need to spare the rod

The master has a fundamental role
To remind a worker who is in control

For the benefit of the community
We perform our duties with impunity

The Back Story

The aristocracy had begun to realize the dangers of coalitions between poor Blacks and Whites even before Bacon’s Rebellion. Over the years, the slave codes and Virginia Acts methodically reinforced the dehumanization of Blacks and the barriers between them and poor Whites.

Step by step policies were put into place that trained Whites to understand the benefits to be gained from keeping White supremacy (and, ultimately, slavery) intact. Bacon’s Rebellion was only one incident that encouraged such laws and practices. It was clear that great wealth was to be had if free labor could be found, especially in an agrarian economy.

Dramatic Reading

“That damned Key woman,” William Berkeley cursed under his breath as the councilman’s gavel came down. The courtroom exploded. Elizabeth Key and her son jumped to their feet and hugged each other. William’s entire side of the aisle shouted angrily. The old men pounded their walking sticks. 

While others argued, the governor reflected. People get used to their servants. Servants become part of the family legacy. And just when you are getting comfortable and beginning to turn a profit, the rug gets pulled out. He himself had been forced to sign on a new servant only last month. The system was flawed. The meddlesome Elfrith woman (Penelope? Patricia? Prudence!) had been right. There were legal loopholes that needed to be plugged. You can’t just keep an African indentured servant forever. That’s not servitude. It’s enslavement. This was the test case to prove it. John Mottram had tried to keep her on after her contract ended and she had sued. The woman had courage. Admirable, to be sure, if for no other reason than that it had not been done before. But should it be allowed to stand? Should these Africans…or the Indians… be afforded the same rights as the white servants? He would speak with the councilman.

Prudence sat silent in the back row, her arms crossed and a sullen look stamped on her face. Both of her African servants’ terms were scheduled to conclude at the end of this year. She simply did not have the money saved to afford replacements – not even for one of them. Times had been hard the last few years and she had done well just to hang on to her property. Now this. And where would Titus and Sarah go anyway, once they were released? They might even prefer to stay on. That was a hopeful thought. Except…except she had administered some severe beatings and berated them regularly over the years. She wouldn’t choose to stay if it were her. Not for a second.

After an eternal minute of cacophony, the councilman again banged his gavel and the Assembly rose to leave. Their decision had been just, insofar as it followed the law. But laws could change. This was not over.

The Whiteness Factor

Some policies had been put into place that prevented most Blacks from gaining their freedom. Elizabeth Key, a Black indentured servant who was being treated as a slave, sued for her freedom in 1662 and won. So the same court that freed her later passed a law precluding that option. But such laws failed to keep Black and White from wanting to associate and from feeling a common bond. The Slave Codes became a way to accomplish that insidious task. Punish enslaved Blacks more harshly than White servants to communicate a difference in social status. Outlaw marriage across color lines (anti miscegenation laws). Reward Whites for reporting runaways and punish them for cooperating with escapees. Finally, encourage poor Whites to feel like they were aligned with richer Whites by giving them just enough to keep them from rebelling.

Separating Black and White poor from each other has been an ongoing strategy in the United States since its founding. Encouraging dissension between the races is one of the easiest ways for the ruling class to inhibit coalition building and social movements.