| Date | 1792 |
|---|---|
| Law/Legislation | Law |
| Jurisdiction | VA |
| Title | Chapter 41 |
| Description/Full Text | This is an act to reduce into one the serveral acts concerning slaves, free Negroes, and mulattoes, and it says that slaves shall be those who were such on October 17, 1785, and the decendants of the femals of them. Slaves brought in and kept one year shall be free, with an exception for owners who take the oath formerly required. Slaves coming on to a plantation without their owner's leave may be given ten lashes on their bare backs by the owner or overseer of such plantation. Negroes and mulattoes shall not carry guns, except free Negroes may be permitted to keep on gune, and Negroes, bond or free, living on the frontier may be licensed to keep them. Whereas slaves run away and hide out and kill hogs, it is enacted that upon intelligence of two or more lying out, they may be committed to jail or trial. Conspiracy to rebel, or make insurrection, is deemed a felony, with death the punishment without beneift of clergy. Slaves may be emancipated by an instrument in writing, attested and prooved by two witnesses; provided they shall be liable to be taken on execution to satisfy any debt contracted previously by the person so emancipating. Slaves not being of sound mind and body, or between eighteen years of age, if female, and twenty-one years of age, if male, and fourty-five years shall be supported by the person liberating them. The property of the former master may be distrained and sold for this purpose. All Negroes and mulattoes are adjudged personal estate. Widows are not to remove slaves from the state or forfeit them and the rest of their dower. If the donor remains in possession of a slave, a gift of a slave is not valid. Slaves are not to prepare or administer medicine with provisoes. Slaves are not to trade as free men under penalty of $30.00 for each offense. |
| Additional Information | – |
| Source | Black Laws of Virginia, By: June Purcell Guild |
| Transcriber Notes | – |
If you are citing this record, please use the following format:
[Author (if known)], Laws and Legislation Related to Slavery and Free Blacks in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia (1642-1860), [Date (if known)], Enduring Connections: Exploring Delmarva’s Black History, Nabb Research Center, Salisbury University.
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