The significance of Anthony Johnson in the establishment of differentiation between Black and White people cannot be disputed. Johnson was a free black man who purchased the property in Virginia and was declared legally capable of owning a slave after being freed from servitude himself. The role of Nathaniel Bacon should also be mentioned because he wanted to remove all Native Americans from Virginia’s colonies to expand his property.
He initiated a rebellion against the colony’s elite, which resulted in the later policy of the state’s lawmakers distinguishing between white and black citizens through imposing a permanent enslaving of people of African descent and giving poor white servants new status and rights. The examples of John Punch and Rose Davis show that black slaves were punished severely for their wrongdoings and made to serve their masters till the end of their lives. Such strict legislation separated the two groups and made it less likely for them to unite in the act of rebellion.
Slave laws that governed the affairs associated with Black and White citizens established a deliberate separation of Blacks. This meant that skin color was the key determinant in regulating social affairs between people, with Blacks being forced into rigid limitations, including their rights to meet at gatherings, including funerals. Slaves were forbidden to arm themselves for defensive purposes, leave their worksites without the written permission of their masters, or resist arrest. All of these restrictions ensured that the Black population would be monitored and kept under control.