The law under slavery had refused to recognize the autonomy of the black family, making it liable to separation at any time and treating it as part of the broader patriarchal household headed by the master
As the Virginia Law Journal pointed out in 1877, the slave "could not marry because he was legally incapable to consent, because the relation of husband and wife was inconsistent with that of master and slave, and because the slave had no status as a person before the law."
(597)
