January 1682

Virginia's 1682 Act declared that all imported servants who were not Christians in their native country were to be held as enslaved for life, regardless of subsequent baptism. The law also clarified that enslaved people who converted to Christianity after arrival remained enslaved. It further restricted enslaved people's movement and assembly. This comprehensive code tightened the legal architecture of hereditary race-based slavery, closing the Christianity loophole entirely and extending enslavement to all non-Christian imports regardless of prior status.

Virginia's 1682 act expanded the definition of who could be enslaved to include all people imported into the colony who were not Christians 'in their native Country' — regardless of whether they had since converted. This targeted not only Africans but also people from Turkey, India, and elsewhere, though in practice it overwhelmingly applied to Africans. The law also imposed pass requirements on enslaved people, requiring written permission to leave plantations, and prescribed thirty lashes for unlicensed assembly. It was among the most comprehensive slave codes enacted in 17th-century Virginia.