Slaveholders compelled enslaved girls and women to give birth to children. The mothers and their babies lacked legal and moral rights to their bodies. To see the clear link between this statement and George Mason IV, a typical slaveholder who worshiped at the nearby Pohick church, consider his words on the campus statue: “I give and bequeath unto each of my four Daughters, Ann Mason, Sarah Mason, Mary Mason, and Elizabeth Mason, and to each of their heirs for ever, ... the following Slaves with their Increase, respectively from the date of this my Will.... I confirm ...a Negro Girl named Penny to my Daughter Ann.”
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