Excerpts from Virginia’s early Slave Laws
December 1662 Whereas some doubts have arisen whether children got by any Englishman upon a Negro woman should be slave or free, be it therefore enacted and declared by this present Grand Assembly, that all children born in this country shall be held bond or free only according to the condition of the mother; . . .
September 1667 Whereas some doubts have risen whether children that are slaves by birth, and by the charity and piety of their owners made partakers of the blessed sacrament of baptism, should by virtue of their baptism be made free, it is enacted and declared by this Grand Assembly, and the authority thereof, that the conferring of baptism does not alter the condition of the person as to his bondage or freedom; that diverse masters, freed from this doubt may more carefully endeavor the propagation of Christianity by permitting children, through slaves, or those of greater growth if capable, to be admitted to that sacrament.
September 1668 Whereas it has been questioned whether servants running away may be punished with corporal punishment by their master or magistrate, since the act already made gives the master satisfaction by prolonging their time by service, it is declared and enacted by this Assembly that moderate corporal punishment inflicted by master or magistrate upon a runaway servant shall not deprivate the master of the satisfaction allowed by the law, the one being as necessary to reclaim them from persisting in that idle course as the other is just to repair the damages sustained by the master.
Use the excerpts to answer the question.
How do these laws reflect the economic needs in the Virginia colony?
A.
Freeing enslaved persons encouraged further western settlement.
B.
Freeing children of enslaved mothers provided more wage workers.
C.
Permitting masters to punish escaped slaves ensured high labor turnover.
D.
Making slavery hereditary ensured a steady pool of workers.
PLEASE, ALSO EXPLAIN WHY ITS THE CORRECT ANSWER, DO NOT GUESS, USE THE EXPERT.