Final answer:
The legal control of slave children was given to the slaveholder, perpetuating the inherited status of slavery from mother to child. This was part of a legal system that enforced racial barriers and was designed to bolster the institution of slavery financially through increased populations of enslaved people.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to the laws that were established by slaveholders, legal control of slave children was given to the slaveholder. This meant that the children of enslaved women inherited the status of their mothers, ensuring that the system of slavery could perpetuate itself generationally. This rule was enshrined in various colonial and state legal frameworks, most notably in places like Virginia. The legal system was explicitly designed to maintain racial barriers and the institution of slavery. In some cases, these children were born of relations between slaveholders and enslaved women, and the resulting offspring could endure greater sufferings and were often subjected to sale or harsh treatment. Over time, these laws became increasingly strict as the financial incentive to expand the enslaved population grew stronger.
Slaveholders' control over the personal lives of the enslaved extended to the establishment of marriages, which, while not legally recognized, were sometimes encouraged or even forced by the slaveholder to increase the number of enslaved children. Enslaved couples faced the ever-present threat of separation, either from each other or from their children. The children, in turn, were expected to work for the slaveholder, often from a very young age.