Black-White Marriages Outlawed

On September 20, 1664, Maryland passed the first law outlawing marriages between Blacks and Whites. The preamble to the law stated: "divers freeborn English women, forgetful of their free condition, and to the disgrace of our nation, do intermarry with Negro slaves." The purpose of the law was to prevent marriages between Black men and white women. However, mixed marriages were not unusual at this time in colonial America. Similar laws were passed in 1691 in Virginia, 1705 in Massachusetts, 1715 in North Carolina, 1717 in Deleware, and 1725 in Pennsylvania.