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HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 728
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the House Committee on Rules on January 31,
2007)
(Patron Prior to Substitute--Delegate McEachin)
Acknowledging
the contributions of varied races and cultures to the
character of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and
expressing profound regret for slavery and other
historic wrongs rooted in racial and cultural bias and
misunderstanding.
Whereas, 2007 marks the 400th
anniversary of the first permanent English settlement in
the Americas, at Jamestown; and
Whereas, the racial, ethnic and
cultural diversity that has uniquely defined America
began at Jamestown, in the Virginia colony, with the
early encounters and interactions among the native
peoples, Europeans, and Africans; and
Whereas, despite the acute hardship,
conflict, cruelty, and oppression that characterized
those first encounters and interactions, Virginians of
native, European, and African descent persevered and
made indispensable contributions to the survival of the
colony, the founding of our good Commonwealth and
nation, and the forging of our national character and
culture; and
Whereas, the legacies of the
Jamestown settlement and the Virginia colony include
ideas, institutions, and a history that have been
central to the distinctive American experiment in
democracy and the global advance of democratic
principles, including representative government, the
rule of law, and recognition and protection of human
rights, among them, religious freedom, property rights
and free enterprise, freedom of expression, and the
whole constellation of liberties enshrined in the
Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia and
United States Constitutions; and
Whereas, the foremost expression of
these ideals that bind us as a people is found in the
Declaration of Independence, which proclaims as
“self-evident” the truths “that all men are created
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable rights; that among these are life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness”; and
Whereas, despite its “self-evident”
character, this fundamental principle and moral standard
of liberty and equality has been transgressed during
much of Virginian and American history, and our
Commonwealth and nation are still working toward
fulfillment of the ideals proclaimed by the founders and
toward the “more perfect union” that is the aspiration
of our national identity and charter; and
Whereas, these transgressions include
egregious wrongs visited upon Virginia’s native peoples,
including dispossession of their lands, violations of
solemn covenants and agreements, enforcement of “racial
integrity” laws and other policies that denied their
ethnic identity and undermined their cultural heritage,
and other forms of discrimination; and
Whereas, these transgressions include
the immoral institution of human slavery, an institution
directly antithetical to and irreconcilable with the
fundamental principle of human equality and freedom, and
which, having been sanctioned and perpetuated through
the laws of Virginia and the United States, ranks as the
most horrendous of all depredations of human rights and
violations of our founding ideals in our nation’s
history; and
Whereas, the abolition of slavery was
not followed by prompt fulfillment of those founding
ideals, but rather by systematic discrimination,
enforced segregation, and other insidious institutions
and practices toward Americans of African descent that
were rooted in racism, racial bias, and racial
misunderstanding; and
Whereas, despite our collective
pursuit of freedom and justice for all, and our
Commonwealth’s and nation’s remarkable progress toward
that noble end, no people or group in the four centuries
since Jamestown’s settlement has been untouched and
unaffected by racial and cultural bias, bigotry, and
misunderstanding, resulting discrimination, and their
sad legacies; and
Whereas, the government of this
Commonwealth of Virginia, like all governments in free
societies, is but a manifestation of human will,
animated by high ideals but admitting of irremediable
flaws, and thus susceptible to evil and error even as it
aspires to goodness and truth; and
Whereas, even the most abject apology
for past wrongs cannot right them, nor can it justly
impute fault or responsibility to succeeding generations
or justify the imposition of new benefits or burdens,
yet the spirit of true repentance on behalf of a
government, and, through it, a people, can serve to
bring closure, to reconcile and heal, and to recall and
remind so that past wrongs may never be repeated and
manifest injustice may not again be overlooked; and
Whereas, in recent decades Virginians
have affirmed the founding ideals of liberty and
equality by, among many other acts, providing some of
the nation’s foremost trailblazers for civil rights,
giving formal legal recognition to the state’s Indian
tribes, and electing a grandson of slaves to the
Commonwealth’s highest elective office; and
Whereas, such acts affirming the
founding ideals of liberty and equality have provided a
wholesome example for the nation, a form of leadership
befitting the Commonwealth’s unsurpassed tradition of
leadership since the founding of Jamestown, and suggest
that this legislative expression, the first of its kind
in this country, may likewise set a positive example for
citizens and their governments in other states; and
Whereas, racial and cultural
diversity, and the distinctive contributions of peoples
from all around the world, have enriched and prospered
this Commonwealth during the four centuries since the
settlement of Jamestown, and are cause for much
thanksgiving and celebration; and
Whereas, the story of Virginia and
its diverse peoples during these first four centuries is
a story of unparalleled achievement despite adversity,
of great struggle and sacrifice, vision and virtue, as
integral to the larger American story as hope is
integral to the American spirit; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Delegates,
the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly
acknowledge and recognize the many contributions made by
people of diverse cultures and backgrounds that have
shaped the character and enriched the culture of our
Commonwealth; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the General
Assembly hereby acknowledge and express its profound
regret for the Commonwealth’s role in sanctioning the
immoral institution of human slavery, in the historic
wrongs visited upon native peoples, and in all other
forms of discrimination and injustice that have been
rooted in racial and cultural bias and misunderstanding;
and, be it
RESOLVED FINALLY, That on the
occasion of Virginia’s 400th anniversary, the
General Assembly call upon the citizens of the
Commonwealth to enter into a spirit of thanksgiving for
the contributions made by Virginians of diverse cultures
and backgrounds to the advance of freedom, justice,
democracy, and opportunity in America and the world, of
solemn remembrance of the struggles and sacrifices that
attended those contributions, and of celebration of the
promise the future holds for fulfilling our shared ideal
of “one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for
all.”
Source:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?071+ful+HJ728H1
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State's misdeeds
In the nearly 388 years since that
great act of inhumanity, Virginia has done a lot to
blacks for which it should be sorry.
In 1662, the state Legislature
ordered that the race of children born to slave women
and "any Englishman" should be determined by the
condition of the mother. In other words, children
fathered by white men who had their way with black slave
women were born slaves.
In the 1830s, Virginia's
Legislature passed a law that made it illegal for any
blacks - slaves or free - to preach at a religious
service.
In 1860, it ordered that any free
black who was sentenced to prison for a crime could, at
the court's discretion, be sold into slavery.
If you think Virginia's treatment
of blacks changed quickly after slavery was ended,
you're wrong. In 1924, Virginia's Legislature passed a
"Racial Integrity Act," which forbade people from
marrying across racial lines.
In 1959, a state court convicted
an interracial couple of violating that law after they
married legally in the District of Columbia before
moving to Virginia.
Desegregation resistance
This act of state-sponsored racial
intolerance came on the heels of an effort by a Virginia
U.S. senator to block enforcement of the Supreme Court's
1954 school desegregation order. Called "Massive
Resistance," the effort of Sen. Harry Byrd Sr. won the
support of the state's Legislature, which tried to close
Virginia's public schools in 1958 rather than comply
with the high court's school desegregation decision.
Why mention all of this? To make the point that slavery
had some pernicious aftereffects - and Virginia's
Legislature was on the leading edge of many of them well
into the 20th century. . . .
Source:
DeWayne Wickham, "Virginia finally shows
contrition for slavery."
(Tue Feb 6, 2007)
Yahoo News
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Virginia had the longest slave
history in British colonies, with most historians, by
and large, suggesting that the first 20 enslaved
Africans arrived in Jamestown in 1619 (though other
historians confirm that England’s first slave voyage was
in 1555 when slave trader John Hawkins brought 300
slaves to North America [Santa Domingo], causing the
Spanish to ban British from trading in the West Indies).
Enslaved Africans were actually on the North American
continent nearly one hundred years earlier with a
documented presence in New Spain (now Mexico) in the
1520s, but it’s Jamestown that is credited with making
involuntary servitude an accepted part of American
culture long before it became associated with the deep
South. . . .
Nearly 300 years of life-long
servitude, by an inestimatable number, leaves America in
a position it couldn’t possibly repair or reparate. And
if they tried to address reparations, where would the
number start? Try four trillion dollars (at last
estimate, in the late 1990s), which is most of the
wealth of the nation. The interest owed on reparations
to descendents of slaves in America is in the hundreds
of millions of dollars annually. This is not a
conversation America is looking forward to, because it’s
not a debt that America can pay (in dollars-but they can
pay it in other ways). . . .
I guess for now, a near apology
will have to do. At least until African Americans figure
out how to work around the semantics of America
confessing for slavery—without paying.
Source: Anthony Asadullah Samad.
"Semantics Over Apology for Slavery Keeps Eye On
Reparations."
Black Commentator
posted 17 February 2007
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Virginia & the Board of Trade
—The
ruling class took special pains to be sure that the
people they ruled were propagandized in the moral
and legal ethos of white-supremacism. Provisions
were included for that purpose in the 1705 "Act
concerning Servants and Slaves" and in the Act of
1723 "directing the trial of Slaves . . . and for
the better government of Negroes, Mulattos, and
Indians, bond or free." For
consciousness-raising purposes (to prevent "pretense
of ignorance"), the laws mandated that parish clerks
or churchwardens, once each spring and fall at the
close of Sunday service, should read ("publish")
these laws in full to the congregants. Sheriffs were
ordered to have the same done at the courthouse door
at the June or July term of court. . . . The general
public was regularly and systematically subjected to
official white supremacist agitation. It was to be
drummed into the minds of the people that, for the
first time, no free African-American was to dare to
lift his or her hand against a "Christian, not being
a negro, mulatto or Indian"; that African-American
freeholders were no longer to be allowed to vote;
that the provision of a previous enactment [1691]
was being reinforced against the mating of English
and Negroes as producing "abominable mixture" and
"spurious" issue; that, as provided in the 1723 law
for preventing freedom plots by African-American
bond-laborers, "any white person . . . found in
company with any [illegally congregated] slaves" was
to be be fined (along with free African Americans or
Indians so offending) with a fine of fifteen
shillings, or to "receive, on his, her, or their
bare backs, for every such offense, twenty lashes
well laid on."
—Invention of the White Race
(vol. 2, p. 251)
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VIRGINIA SERVANTS AND SLAVES
The marked
transition in the Chesapeake colonies from servant to
slave labor occurred in these last years of the
seventeenth century. Virginia's slave population grew
from 150 in 1640, to nearly 3,000 in 1680, and by 1700
to 13,000—one sixth of the colony's population. The
transition occurred primarily for two reasons: (1) the
supply of indentured servants dropped as England offered
more economic opportunities for its poor; and (2) the
wealthy planters feared the power of the lower classes
in their midst, namely the white backwoods farmers, the
white indentured servants, and the black servants and
slaves. White-black coalitions were an ever-present
threat to the planters—Bacon's Rebellion of 1676 had
made that clear (see #5: Colonial Rebellion). As the
slave population increased, so did the legal controls on
slaves' behavior and power, culminating in the extensive
law of 1705. Also appearing in 1705 was a justification
of servitude and slavery written by a Virginia planter
to rebut criticism from England. "Because I have heard
how strangely cruel, and severe [slavery and servitude
are] presented in some parts of England," writes Robert
Beverley, "I can't forbear affirming that the work of
their servants and slaves is no other than what every
common Freeman does." Explaining the 1705 law, Beverley
cites clauses that buttress his argument and judiciously
omits others, which you can identify in the excerpts
included here and in the full text of the statute (see
Supplemental Links).
[Robert Beverley, Jr., "Of the Slaves
and Servants in Virginia," in The History and Present
State of Virginia, 1705; and An Act concerning Servants
and Slaves, Virginia, 1705]
http://www.nhc.rtp.nc.us/pds/amerbegin/power/text8/text8read.htm
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October 1705 - 4th
Anne, Chap XXIII, 3.333.
An act declaring the Negro,
Mulatto, and Indian slaves
within this dominion, to be
real estate.
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I. FOR the better settling
and preservation of estates within this dominion,
II. Be it
enacted, by the governor, council and burgesses of this
present general assembly, and it is hereby enacted by
the authority of the same; That from and after the
passing of this act, all negro, mulatto, and Indian
slaves, in all courts of judicature, and other places,
within this dominion, shall be held, taken, and
adjudged, to be real estate (and not chattels;) and
shall descend unto the heirs and widows of persons
departing this life, according to the manner and custom
of land of inheritance, held in fee simple.
III.
Provided always, That nothing in this act contained,
shall be taken to extend to any merchant or factor,
bringing any slaves into this dominion, or having any
consignments thereof, unto them, for sale: But that such
slaves, whilst they remain unsold, in the posession of
such merchant, or factor, or of their executors,
administrators, or assigns, shall, to all intents and
purposes, be taken, held, and adjudged, to be personal
estate, in the same condition they should have been in,
if this act had never been made.
IV. Provided
also, That all such slaves shall be liable to the
paiment of debts, and may be taken by execution, for
that end, as other chattels or personal estate may be.
V. Provided
also, That no such slaves shall be liable to be
escheated, by reason of the decease of the proprietor of
the same, without lawful heirs: But all such slaves
shall, in that case, be accounted and go as chattels,
and other estate personal.
VI. Provided
also, That no person, selling or alienating any such
slave, shall be obliged to cause such sale or alienation
to be recorded, as is required by law to be done, upon
the alienation of other real estate: But that the said
sale or alienation may be made in the same manner as
might have been done before the making of this act.
VII.
Provided also, That this act, or any thing therein
contained, shall not extend, nor be construed to extend,
to give any person, being owner of any slave or slaves,
and not seized of other real estate, the right or
privilege as a freeholder, meant, mentioned, and
intended, by one act of this present session of
assembly, intituled, An act for regulating the elections
of Burgesses, for settling their privileges, and for
ascertaining their allowances.
VIII.
Provided also, That it shall and may be lawful, for any
person, to sue for, and recover, any slave, or damage,
for the detainer, trover, or conversion therof, by
action personal, as might have been done if this act had
never been made.
IX. Provided
always, That where the nature of the case shall require
it, any writ De Partitione facienda, or of dower, may be
sued forth and prosecuted, to recover the right and
possession of any such slave or slaves.
X. Provided,
and be it enacted, That when any person dies intestate,
leaving several children, in that case all the slaves of
such person, (except the widow’s dower, which is to be
first set apart) shall be inventoried and appraised; and
the value therof shall be equally divided amongst all
the said children; and the several proportions,
according to such valuation and appraisement, shall be
paid by the heir (to whom the said slaves shall descend,
by virtue of this act) unto all and every the other said
children. And thereupon, it shall and may be lawful for
the said other children, and every of them, and their
executors or administrators, as the case shall be, to
commence and prosecute an action upon the case, at the
common law, against such heir, his heirs, executors and
administrators, for the recovery of their said several
proportions, respectively.
XI. And be
it further enacted by the authority aforesaid,, That if
any widow, seised of any such slave or slaves, as
aforesaid, as of the dower of her husband, shall send,
or voluntarily permit to be sent out of this colony and
dominion, such slave or slaves, or any of their
increase, without the lawful consent of him or her in
revesion, such widow shall forfeit all and every such
slave or slaves, and all other the dower which she holds
of the endowment of her husband’s estate, unto the
person or persons that shall have the reversion thereof;
any law, usage or custom to the contrary
notwithstanding. And if any widow, seized as aforesaid,
shall be married to an husband,who shall send, or
voluntary permit to be sent out of this colony and
dominion, any such slave or slaves, or any of their
increase, without the consent of him or her in
reversion; in such case, it shall be lawful for him or
her in reversion, to enter into, possess and enjoy all
the state which such husband holdeth, in right of his
wife’s dower, for and during the life of the said
husband.
Source:
http://www.law.du.edu/russell/lh/alh/docs/virginiaslaverystatutes.html
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October 1705 - 4th
Anne. CHAP. KLIX. 3.447.
An act concerning Servants and
Slaves.
I. Be it
enacted, by the governor, council, and burgesses, of
this present general assembly, and it is hereby enacted,
by the authority of the same, That all servants brought
into this country without indenture, if the said
servants be christians, and of christian parentage, and
above nineteen years of age, shall serve but five years;
and if under nineteen years of age, ‘till they shall
become twenty-four years of age, and no longer.
II. Provided
always, That every such servant be carried to the
country court, within six months after his or her
arrival into this colony, to have his or her age
adjudged by the court, otherwise shall be a servant no
longer than the accustomary five years, although much
under the age of nineteen years; and the age of such
servant being adjudged by the court, within the
limitation aforesaid, shall be entered upon the records
of the said court, and be accounted, deemed, and taken,
for the true age of the said servant, in relation to the
time of service aforesaid.
III. And
also be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, and it
is herby enacted, That when any servant sold for the
custom, shall pretend to have indentures, the master or
owner of such servant, for discovery of the truth
thereof, may bring the said servant before a justice of
the peace; and if the said servant cannot produce the
indenture then, but shall still pretend to have one, the
said jsutice shall assign two months time for the doing
thereof; in which time, if the said servant shall not
produce his or her indenture, it shall be taken for
granted that there never was one, and shall be a bar to
his or her claim of making use of one afterwards, or
taking any advantage by one.
IV. And also
be it enacted, by the authority aforesiad, and it is
hereby enacted, That all servants imported and brought
into this country, by sea or land, who were not
christians in their native country, (except Turks and
Moors in amity with her majesty, and others that can
make due proof of their being free in England, or any
other christian country, before they were shipped, in
order to transporation hither) shall be accounted and be
slaves, and as such be here bought and sold
notwithtanding a conversion to christianity afterwards.
V. And be it
enacted, by the authority aforesaid, and it is hereby
enacted, That if any person or persons shall hereafter
import into this colony, and here sell as a slave, any
person or persons that shall have been a freeman in any
christian country, island, or plantation, such importer
and seller as aforesaid, shall forfeit and pay, to the
party from whom the said freeman shall recover his
freedom, double the sum for which the said freeman was
sold. To be recovered, in any court of record within
this colony, according to the course of the common law,
wherein the defendant shall not be admitted to plead in
bar, any act or statute for limitation of actions.
VI. Provided
always, That a slave’s being in England, shall not be
sufficient to discharge him of his slavery, without
other proof of his being manumitted there.
VII. And
also be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, and it
is hereby enacted, That all masters and owners of
servants, shall find and provide for their servants,
wholesome and competent diet, clothing, and lodging, by
the discretion of the county court; and shall not, at
any time, give immoderate correction; neither shall, at
any time, whip a christian white servant naked, without
an order from a justice of the peace: And if any,
notwithstanding this act, shall presume to whip a
christian white servant naked, without such order, the
person so offending, shall forfeit and pay for the same,
forty shillings sterling, to the party injured: To be
recovered, with costs, upon petition, without the formal
process of an action, as in and by this act is provided
for servants complaints to be heard; provided complaint
be made within six monts after such whipping.
VIII. And
also be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, and it
is herby enacted, That all servants, (not being slaves,)
whether imported, or become servants of their own accord
here, or bound by any court or church-wardens, shall
have their complaints received by a justice of the
peace, who, if he find cause, shall bind the master over
to answer the complaint at court; and it shall be there
determined: And all complaints of servants, shall and
may, by virtue hereof, be received at any time, upon
petition, in the court of the county wherein they
reside, without the formal process of an action; and
also full power and authority is hereby given to the
said court, by their discretion, (having first summoned
the masters or owners to justify themselves, if they
think fit,) to adjudge, order, and appoint what shall be
necessary, as to diet, odging, clothing, and correction:
l And if any master or owner shall not thereupon comply
with the said court’s order, the said court is hereby
authorised and impowered, upon a second just complaint,
to order such servant to be immediately sold at an
outcry, by the sheriff, and after charges deducted, the
remainder of what the said servant shall be sold for, to
be paid and satisfied to such owner.
IX. Provided
always, and be it enacted, That if such servant be so
sick or lame, or otherwise rendered so uncapable, that
he or she cannot be sold for such a value, at least, as
shall satisfy the fees, and other incident charges
accrued, the said court shall then order the
church-wardens of the parish to take care of and provide
for the said servant, until such servant’s time, due by
law to the said master, or owner, shall be expired, or
until such servant, shall be so recovered, as to be sold
for defraying the said fees and charges: And further,
the said court, from time to time, shall order the
charges of keeping the said servant, to be levied upon
the goods and chattels of the master or owner of the
said servant, by distress.
X. And be it
also enacted, That all servants, whether, by
importation, indenture, or hire here, as well feme
coverts, as others, shall, in like manner, as is
provided, upon complaints of misusage, have their
petitions received in court, for their wages and
freedom, without the formal process of an action; and
proceedings, and judgment, shall, in like manner, also,
be had thereupon.
XI. And for
a further christian care and usage of all christian
servants, Be it also enacted, by the authority
aforesaid, and it is hereby enacted, That no negros,
mulattos, or Indians, although christians, or Jews,
Moors, Mahometans, or other infidels, shall, at any
time, purchase any christian servant, nor any other,
except of their own complexion, or such as are declared
slaves by this act: And if any negro, mulatto, or
Indian, Jew, Moor, Mahometan, or other infidel, or such
as are declared slaves by this act, shall,
notwithstanding, purchase any christian white servant,
the said servant shall, ipso facto, become free and
acquit from any service then due, and shall be so held,
deemed, and taken: And if any person, having such
christian servant, shall intermarry with any such negro,
mulatto, or Indian, Jew, Moor, Mahometan, or other
infidel, every christian white servant of every such
person so intermarrying, shall, ipso facto, become free
and acquit from any service then due to such master or
mistress so intermarrying, as aforesaid.
XII. And
also be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, and it
is hereby enacted, That no master or owner of any
servant shall during the time of such servant’s
servitude, make any bargain with his or her said servant
for further service, or other matter or thing relating
to liberty, or personal profit, unless the same be made
in the presence, and with the approbation, of the court
of that county where the master or owner resides:
And if any servants
shall, at any time bring in goods or money, or during
the time of their service, by gift, or any other lawful
ways or means, come to have any goods or money, they
shall enjoy the propriety thereof, and have the sole use
and benefit thereof to themselves. And if any servant
shall happen to fall sick or lame, during the time of
service, so that he or she becomes of little or no use
to his or her master or owner, but rather a charge, the
said master or owner shall not put away the said
servant, but shall maintain him or her, during the whole
time he or she was before obliged to serve, by
indenture, custom, or order of court:
And if any master
or owner, shall put away any such sick or lame servant,
upon pretence of freedom, and that servant shall become
chargeable to the parish, the said master or owner shall
forfeit and pay ten pounds current money of Virginia, to
the church-wardens of the parish where such offence
shall be committed, for the use of the said parish: To
be recovered by action of debt, in any court of record
in this her majesty’s colony and dominion, in which no
essoin, protection, or wager of law, shall be allowed.
XIII. And
whereas there has been a good and laundable custom of
allowing servants corn and cloaths for their present
support, upon their freedom; but nothing in that nature
ever made certain, Be it also enacted, by the authority
aforesaid, and it is hereby enacted, That there shall be
paid and allowed to every imported servant, not having
yearly wages, at the time of service ended, by the
master or owner of such servant, viz: To every male
servant, ten bushels of indian corn, thirty shillings in
money, or the value thereof, in goods, and one well
fixed musket or fuzee, of the value of twenty shillings,
at least: and to every woman servant, fifteen bushels of
indian corn, and forty shillings in money, or the value
thereof, in goods: Which, upon refusal, shall be
ordered, with costs, upon petition to the county court,
in manner as is herein before directed, for servants
complaints to be heard.
XIV. And
also be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, and it
is hereby enacted, That all servants shall faithfully
and obediently, all the whole time of their service, do
all thir masters or owners just and lawful commands. And
if any servant shall resist the master, or mistress, or
overseer, of offer violence to any of them, the said
servant shall, for every such offence, be adjudged to
serve his or her said master or owner, one whole year
after the time, by indenture, custom, or former order of
court, shall be expired.
XV. And also
be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, and it is
hereby enacted, That no person whatsoever shall buy,
sell, or receive of, to, or from, any servant, or slave,
any coin or commodity whatsoever, without the leave,
licence, or consent of the master or owner of the said
servant, or slave: And if any person shall, contrary
hereunto, without the leave or licence aforesaid, deal
with any servant, or slave, he or she so offending,
shall be imprisoned one calender month, without bail or
main-prize; and then, also continue in prison, until he
or she shall find good security, in the sum of ten
pounds current money of Virginia, for the good behaviour
for one year following; wherein, a second offence shall
be a breach of the bond and moreover shall forfeit and
pay four times the value of the things so bought, sold,
or received, to the master or owner of such servant, or
slave: To be recovered, with costs, by action upon the
case, in any court of record in this her majesty’s
colony and dominion, wherein no essoin, protection, or
wager of law, or other than one imparlance, shall be
allowed.
XVI.
Provided always, and be it enacted, That when any person
or persons convict for dealing with a servant, or slave,
contrary to this act, shall not immediately give good
and sufficient security for his or her good behaviour,
as aforesaid: then, in such case, the court shall order
thirty-nine lashes, well laid on, upon the bare back of
such offender, at the common whipping-post of the
county, and the said offender to be thence discharged of
giving such bond and security.
XVII. And
also be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, and it
is hereby enacted, and declared, That in all cases of
penal laws, whereby persons free are punishable by fine,
servants shall be punished by whipping, after the rate
of twenty lashes for every five hundred pounds of
tobacco, or fifty shillings current money, unless the
servant so culpable, can and will procure some person or
persons to pay the fine; in which case, the said servant
shall be adjudged to serve such benefactor, after the
time by indenture, custom, or order of court, to his or
her then present master or owner, shall be expired,
after the rate of one month and a half for every hundred
pounds of tobacco; any thing in this act contained, to
the contrary, in any-wise, notwithstanding.
XVIII. And
if any women servant shall be delivered of a bastard
child within the time of her service aforesaid, Be it
enacted, by the authority aforesaid, and it is hereby
enacted, That in recompence of the loss and trouble
occasioned her master or mistress thereby, she shall for
every such offence, serve her said master or owner one
whole year after her time by indenture, custom, and
former order of court, shall be expired; or pay her said
master or owner, one thousand pounds of tobacco; and the
reputed father, if free, shall give security to the
church- wardens of the parish where that child shall be,
to maintain the child, and keep the parish indemnified;
or be compelled thereto by order of the county court,
upon the said church-wardens complaint: But if a
servant, he shall make satisfaction of the parish, for
keeping the said child, after his time by indenture,
custom, or order of court, to his then present master or
owner, shall be expired; or be compelled thereto, by
order of the county court, upon complaint of the church
wardens of the said parish, for the time being.
And if any woman
servant shall be got with child by her master, neither
the said master, nor his executors administrators, nor
assigns, shall have any claim of service against her,
for or by reason of such child; but she shall, when her
time due to her said master, by indenture, custom or
order of court, shall be expired, be sold by the
church-wardens, for the time being, of the parish
wherein such child shall be born, for one year, or pay
one thousand pounds of tobacco; and the said one
thousand pounds of tobacco, or whatever she shall be
sold for, shall be emploied, by the vestry, to the use
of the said parish. And if any woman servant shall have
a bastard child by a negro, or mulatto, over and above
the years service due to her master or owner, she shall
immediately, upon the expiration of her time to her then
present master or owner, pay down to the church-wardens
of the parish wherein such child shall be born, for the
use of the said parish fifteen pounds current money of
Virginia, or be by them sold for five years to the use
aforesaid:
And if a free
christian white woman shall have such bastard child, by
a negro, or mulatto, for every such offence, she shall,
within one month after her delivery of such bastard
child, pay to the church-wardens for the time being, of
the parish wherein such child shall be born, for the use
of the said parish fifteen pounds current money of
Virginia, or be by them sold for five years to the use
aforesaid: And in both the said cases, the
church-wardens shall bind the said child to be a
servant, until it shall be of thirty one years of age.
XIX. And for
a further prevention of that abominable mixture and
spurious issue, which hereafter may increase in this her
majesty’s colony and dominion, as well by English, and
other white men and women intermarrying with negros or
mulattos, as by their unlawful coition with them, Be it
enacted, by the authority aforesaid, and it is hereby
enacted, That whatsoever English, or other white man or
woman, being free, shall intemarry with a negro or
mulatto man or woman, bond or free, shall, by judgment
of the county court, be committed to prison, and there
remain, during the space of six months, without bail or
mainprize; and shall forfeit and pay ten pounds current
money of Virginia, to the use of the parish, as
aforesaid.
XX. And be
it further enacted, That no minister of the church of
England, or other minister,or person whatsoever, within
this colony and dominion, shall hereafter wittingly
presume to marry a white man with a negro or mulatto
woman; or to marry a white woman with a negro or mulatto
man, upon pain of forfeiting and paying, for every such
marriage the sum of ten thousand pounds of tobacco; one
half to our sovereign lady the Queen, her heirs and
successors, for and towards the support of the
government, and the contingent charges thereof; and the
othe half to the informer; To be recovered, with costs,
by action of debt, bill, plaint, or information, in any
court of record within this her majesty’s colony and
dominion, wherein no essoin, protection, or wager of
law, shall be allowed.
XXI. And
because poor people may not be destitute of emploiment,
upon suspicion of being servants, and servants also kept
from running away, Be it enacted, by the authority
aforesaid, and it is hereby enacted, That every servant,
when his or her time of service shall be expired, shall
repair to the court of the county where he or she served
the last of his or her time, and there, upon sufficient
testimony, have his or her freedom entered; and a
certificate thereof from the clerk of the said court,
shall be sufficient to authorise any person to entertain
or hire such servant, without any danger of this law.
And if it shall at
any time happen, that such certificate is won out, or
lost, the said clerk shall grant a new one, and therein
also recite the accident happened to the old one. And
whoever shall hire such servant, shall take his or her
certificate, and keep it, ‘till the contracted time
shall be expired. And if any person whatsoever, shall
harbour or entertain any servant by importation, or by
contract, or indenture made here, not having such
certificate, he or she so offending, shall pay to the
master or owner of such servant, sixty pounds of tobacco
for every natural day he or she shall so harbour or
entertain such runaway: To be recovered, with costs, by
action of debt, in any court of record withint this her
majesty’s colony and dominion, wherein no essoin,
protection, or wager of law, shall be allowed.
And also, if any
runaway shall make use of a forged certificate, or after
the same shall be delivered to any master or mistress,
upon being hired, shall steal the same away, and thereby
procure entertainment, the person entertaining such
servant, upon such forged or stolen certificate, shall
not be culpable by this law: But the said runaway,
besides making reparation for the loss of time, and
charges in recovery, and other penalties by this law
directed, shall, for making use of such forged or stolen
certificate, or for such theft aforesaid, stand two
hours in the pillory, upon a court day:
And the person
forging such certificate, shall forfeit and pay ten
pounds current money; one half thereof to be to her
majesty, her heirs and successors, for and towards the
support of this government, and the contingent charges
thereof; and the other half to the master or owner of
such servant, if he or she will inform or sue for the
same, otherwise to the informer: To be recovered, with
costs, by action of debt, bill, plaint or information,
in any court of record in this her majesty’s colony and
dominion, wherein no essoin, protection, or wager of
law, shall be allowed. And if any person or persons
convict of forging such certificate, shall not
immediately pay the said ten pounds, and costs, or give
security to do the same within six months, he or she so
convict, shall receive, on his or her bare back,
thirty-nine lashes, well laid on, at the common whipping
post of the county; and shall be thence discharged of
paying the said ten pounds, and costs, and either of
them.
XXII.
Provided, That when any master or mistress shall happen
to hire a runaway, upon a forged certificate, and a
servant deny that he delivered any such certificate, the
Onus Probandi shall lie upon the person hiring, who upon
failure therein, shall be liable to the fines and
penalties, for entertaining runaway servants, without
certificate.
XXIII. And
for encouragement of all persons to take up runaways, Be
it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, and it is hereby
enacted, That for the taking up of every servant, or
slave, if ten miles, or above, from the house or quarter
where such servant, or slave was kept, there shall be
allowed by the public, as a reward to the taker-up, two
hundred pounds of tobacco; and if above five miles, and
under ten, one hundred pounds of tobacco: Which said
several rewards of two hundred, and one hundred pounds
of tobacco, shall also be paid in the county where such
taker-up shall reside, and shall be again levied by the
public upon the master or owner of such runaway, for
re-imbursement of the same to the public.
And for the greater
certainty in paying the said rewards and re-imbursement
of the public, every justice of the peace before whom
such runaway shall be brought, upon the taking up, shall
mention the proper-name and sur-name of the taker-up,
and the county of his or her residence, together with
the time and place of taking up the said runaway; and
shall also mention the name of the said runaway, and the
proper-name and sur-name of the master or owner of such
runaway, and the county of his or her residence,
together with the distance of miles, in the said
justice’s judgment, from the place of taking up the said
runaway, to the house or quarter where such runaway was
kept.
XXIV.
Provided, That when any negro, or other runaway, that
doth not speak English, and cannot, or through obstinacy
will not, declare the name of his or her masters or
owner, that then it shall be sufficient for the said
justice to certify the same, instead of the name of such
runaway, and the proper name and sur-name of his or her
master or owner, and the county of his or her residence
and distance of miles, as aforesaid; and in such case,
shall, by his warrant, order the said runaway to be
conveyed to the public gaol, of this country, there to
be continued prisoner until the master or owner shall be
known; who, upon paying the charges of the imprisonment,
or give caution to the prison-keeper for the same,
together with the reward of two hundred or one hundred
pounds of tobacco, as the case shall be, shall have the
said runaway restored.
XXV. And
further, the said justice of the peace, when such
runaway shall be brought before him, shall, by his
warrant commit the said runaway to the next constable,
and therein also order him to give the said runaway so
many lashes as the said justice shall think fit, not
exceeding the number of thirty-nine; and then to be
conveyed from constable to constable, until the said
runaway shall be carried home, or to the country gaol,
as aforesaid, every constable through whose hands the
said runaway shall pass, giving a receipt at the
delivery; and every constable failing to execute such
warrant according to the tenor thereof, or refusing to
give such receipt, shall forfeit and pay two hundred
pounds of tobacco to the church-wardens of the parish
wherein such failure shall be, for the use of the poor
of the said parish: To be recovered, with costs, by
action of debt, in any court of record in this her
majesty’s colony and dominion, wherein no essoin,
protection or wager of law, shall be allowed. And such
corporal punishment shall not deprive the master or
owner of such runaway of the other satisfaction herre in
this act appointed to be made upon such servant’s
running away.
XXVI.
Provided always, and be it further enacted, That when
any servant or slave, in his or her running away, shall
have crossed the great bay of Chesapeak, and shall be
brought before a justice of the peace, the said justice
shall, instead of committing such runaway to the
constable, commit him or her to the sheriff, who is
hereby required to receive every such runaway, according
to such warrant, and to cause him, her, or them, to be
transported again across the bay, and delivered to a
constable there; and shall have, for all his trouble and
charge herein, for every such servant or slave, five
hundred pounds of tobacco, paid by the public; which
shall be re-imbursed again by the master or owner of
such runaway, as aforesaid, in manner aforesaid.
XXVII.
Provided also, That when any runaway servant that shall
have crossed the said bay, shall get up into the
country, in any county distant from the bay, that then,
in such case, the said runaway shall be committed to a
constable, to be conveyed from constable to constable,
until he shall be brought to a sheriff of some county
adjoining to the said bay of Chesapeak, which sheriff is
also hereby required, upon such warrant, to receive such
runaway, under the rules and conditions aforesaid; and
cause him or her to be conveyed as aforesaid; and shall
have the reward, as aforesaid.
XXVIII. And
for the better preventing of delays in returning of such
runaways, Be it enacted, That if any sheriff, under
sheriff, or other officer of, or belonging to the
sheriffs, shall cause or suffer any such runaway (so
committed for passage over the bay) to work, the said
sheriff, to whom such runaway shall be so committed,
shall forfeit and pay to the master or owner, of every
such servant or slave, so put to work, one thousand
pounds of tobacco; To be recovered, with costs, by
action of debt, bill, plaint, or information, in any
court of record withint this her majesty’s colony and
dominion, wherein no essoin, protection, or wager of
law, shall be allowed.
XXIX. And be
it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, and it is hereby
enacted, That if any constable, or sheriff, into whose
hands a runaway servant or slave shall be committed, by
virtue of this act, shall suffer such runaway to escape,
the said constable or sheriff shall be liable to the
action of the party grieved, for recovery of his
damages, at the common law with costs.
XXX. And
also be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, and it
is hereby enacted, That every runaway servant, upon
whose account, either of the rewards aforementioned
shall be paid, for taking up, shall for every hundred
pounds of tobacco so paid by the master or owner, serve
his or her said master or owner, after his or her time
by indenture, custom, or former order of court, shall be
expired, one calendar month and an half, and moreover,
shall serve double the time such servant shall be absent
in such running away; and shall also make reparation, by
service, to the said master or owner, for all necessary
disbursements and charges, in pursuit and recovery of
the said runaway; to be adjudged and allowed in the
county court, after the rate of one year for eight
hundred pounds of tobacco, and so proportionably for a
greater or lesser quantity.
XXXI.
Provided, That the masters or owners of such runaways,
shall carry them to court the next court held for the
said county, after the recovery of such runaway,
othewise it shall be in the breast of the court to
consider the occasion of delay, and to hear, or refuse
the claim, according to their discretion, without
appeal, for the refusal.
XXXII. And
also be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, and it
is hereby enacted, That no master, mistress, or overseer
of a family, shall knowingly permit any slave, not
belonging to him or her, to be and remain upon his or
her plantation, above four hours at any one time,
without the leave of such slave’s master, mistress, or
overseer, on penalty of one hundred and fifty pounds of
tobacco to the informer; cognizable by a justice of the
peace of the county wherein such offence shall be
committed.
XXXIII.
Provided also, That if any runaway servant, adjudged to
serve for the charges of his or her pursuit and
recovery, shall, at the time, he or she is so adjudged,
repay and satisfy, or give good security before the
court, for repaiment and satisfaction of the same, to
his or her master or owner, within six months after,
such master or owner shall be obliged to accept thereof,
in lieu of the service given and allowed for such
charges and disbursements.
XXXIV. And
if any slave resist his master, or owner, or other
person, by his or her order, correcting such slave, and
shall happen to be killed in such correction, it shall
not be accounted felony; but the master, owner, and
every such other person so giving correction, shall be
free and acquit of all punishment and accusation for the
same, as if such accident had never happened: And also,
if any negro, mulatto, or Indian, bond or free, shall at
any time, lift his or her hand, in oppostion against any
christian, not being negro, mulatto, or Indian, he or
she so offending, shall, for every such offence, proved
by the oath of the party, receive on his or her bare
back, thirty lashes, well laid on; cognizable by a
justice of the peace for that county wherein such
offence shall be committed.
XXXV. And
also be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, and it
is hereby enacted, That no slave go armed with gun,
sword, club, staff, or other weapon, nor go from off the
plantation and seat of land where such slave shall be
appointed to live, without a certificate of leave in
writing, for so doing, from his or her master, mistress,
or overseer: And if any slave shall be found offending
herein, it shall be lawful for any person or persons to
apprehend and deliver such slave to the next constable
or head-borough, who is hereby enjoined and required,
without further order or warrant, to give such slave
twenty lashes on his or her bare back, well laid on, and
so send him or her home: And all horses, cattle, and
hogs, now belonging, or that hereafter shall belong to
any slave, or of any slaves mark in this her majestys
colony and dominion, shall be seised and sold by the
church-wardens of the parish, wherein such horses,
cattle, or hogs shall be, and the profit thereof applied
to the use of the poor of the said parish: And also, if
any damage shall be hereafter committed by any slave
living at a quarter where there is no christian
overseer, the master or owner of such slave shall be
liable to action for the trespass and damage, as if the
same had been done by him or herself.
XXXVI. And
also it is hereby enacted and declared, That baptism of
slaves doth not exempt them from bondage; and that all
children shall be bond or free, according to the
condition of their mothers, and the particular
directions of this act.
XXXVII. And
whereas, many times, slaves run away and lie out, hid
and lurking in swamps, woods, and other obscure places,
killing hogs, and committing other injuries to the
inhabitants of this her majesty’s colony and dominion,
Be it therefore enacted, by the authority aforesaid, and
it is hereby enacted, That in all such cases, upon
intelligence given of any slaves lying out, as
aforesaid, any two justices (Quorum unus) of the peace
of the county wherein such slave is supposed to lurk or
do mischief, shall be and are impowered and required to
issue proclamation against all such slaves, reciting
their names, and owners names, if they are known, and
thereby requiring them, and every of them, forthwith to
surrender themselves; and also impowering the sheriff of
the said county, to take such power with him, as he
shall think fit and necessary, for the effectual
apprehending such out-lying slave or slaves, and go in
search of them: Which proclamation shall be published on
a Sabbath day, at the door of every church and chapel,
in the said county, by the parish clerk, or reader, of
the church, immediately after divine worship:
And in case any
slave, against whom proclamation hath been thus issued,
and once published at any church or chapel, as
aforesaid, stay out, and do not immediately return home,
it shall be lawful for any person or persons whatsoever,
to kill and destroy such slaves by such ways and means
as he, she, or they shall think fit, without accusation
or impeachment of any crime for the same: And if any
slave, that hath run away and lain out as aforesaid,
shall be apprehended by the sheriff, or any other
person, upon the applicaiton of the owner of the said
slave, it shall and may be lawful for the county court,
to order such punishment to the said slave, either by
dismembring, or any other way, not touching his life, as
they in their discretion shall think fit, for the
reclaiming any such incorrigible slave, and terrifying
others from the like practices.
XXXVIII.
Provided always, and it is further enacted, That for
every slave killed, in pursuance of this act, or put to
death by law, the master or owner of such slave shall be
paid by the public:
XXXIX. And
to the end, the true value of every slave killed, or put
to death, as aforesaid, may be the better known; and by
that means, the assembly the better enabled to make a
suitable allowance thereupon, Be it enacted, That upon
application ofthe master or owner of any such slave, to
the court appointed for proof of public claims, the said
court shall value the slave in money, and the clerk of
the court shall return a certificate thereof to the
assembly, with the rest of the public claims.
Source:
http://www.law.du.edu/russell/lh/alh/docs/virginiaslaverystatutes.html
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