Family Separation Through Sale, Inheritance, and Debt in Colonial Slavery

Colonial estate inventories and court records from the late 17th century document the systematic separation of enslaved families through sale, inheritance division, and debt payment. Enslaved people appeared in wills as individual property items, routinely split among heirs regardless of family relationships. Plantation records from Virginia and Maryland show mothers separated from children, husbands from wives. One documented case: a 1672 Maryland estate divided four enslaved adults and three children among three heirs, splitting a family unit across different households. No colonial law recognized or protected enslaved family bonds.