Difference between revisions of "Anti-Slavery Petition of 1795"
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|First Column<br /> | |First Column<br /> | ||
David Meade<br /> | David Meade<br /> | ||
− | [[George Wythe]] | + | [[George Wythe]]<br /> |
+ | Edmund Jones<br /> | ||
+ | John Cringan<br /> | ||
+ | Robert Turnbull<br /> | ||
+ | William Richardson<br /> | ||
+ | Samuel Couch<br /> | ||
+ | Augustine Davis<br /> | ||
+ | Joseph Harding<br /> | ||
+ | Benjamin (Rufred?)<br /> | ||
+ | Thomas T. Bates<br /> | ||
+ | Joseph A. Myers<br /> | ||
+ | Reuben Harrison<br /> | ||
+ | James Wright<br /> | ||
+ | George Wills<br /> | ||
+ | John Bryan<br /> | ||
+ | Andrew Thaklin<br /> | ||
+ | (Thelin?) Sheltman<br /> | ||
+ | Peter Kelly<br /> | ||
+ | John Ferguson<br /> | ||
+ | (Row obscured)<br /> | ||
+ | James Moore<br /> | ||
+ | Nicholas Walder<br /> | ||
+ | George Wymer<br /> | ||
+ | Joseph Pinnell<br /> | ||
+ | Joseph Porter<br /> | ||
+ | Benjamin Wall<br /> | ||
+ | Reuben Finnell<br /> | ||
+ | James Moore<br /> | ||
+ | Carr Waller<br /> | ||
+ | John Parrish<br /> | ||
+ | William Ratcliff<br /> | ||
+ | William Shelburn<br /> | ||
+ | Lewellin Spencer<br /> | ||
+ | William Weathers<br /> | ||
+ | Charles Talley<br /> | ||
+ | Samuel Gover<br /> | ||
+ | (Barenil?) Hough<br /> | ||
+ | Thomas Moore<br /> | ||
+ | Joseph Fisher<br /> | ||
+ | (Obscured)<br /> | ||
+ | Ratikin<br /> | ||
+ | (Obscured) Canby<br /> | ||
+ | (Obscured) Cavian<br /> | ||
+ | |||
|Second Column<br /> | |Second Column<br /> | ||
John Harvie<br /> | John Harvie<br /> | ||
− | Charles W. Byrd | + | Charles W. Byrd<br /> |
+ | John Pleasant<br /> | ||
+ | John (Crow Jr.?)<br /> | ||
+ | John McClurg<br /> | ||
+ | Frederick Argyle<br /> | ||
+ | J. Darmdale<br /> | ||
+ | J. Heron<br /> | ||
+ | Thomas Barnett<br /> | ||
+ | John Lyre<br /> | ||
+ | Archibald Pleasant<br /> | ||
+ | Hugh French<br /> | ||
+ | John Welch<br /> | ||
+ | Ferdinand Lair<br /> | ||
+ | Jacob Chauster<br /> | ||
+ | Jarold Wiseman<br /> | ||
+ | Robert Rutherford<br /> | ||
+ | James Brown<br /> | ||
+ | John Deaning<br /> | ||
+ | Samuel Myer<br /> | ||
+ | George (Hir?)<br /> | ||
+ | Shepherd Collins<br /> | ||
+ | Charles Bodkin<br /> | ||
+ | James Pinnell<br /> | ||
+ | William Gains<br /> | ||
+ | William Wright<br /> | ||
+ | William Keyes<br /> | ||
+ | S.D. Haricman<br /> | ||
+ | Lawrence Manfield<br /> | ||
+ | John Dickerson<br /> | ||
+ | Manfield B. Wood<br /> | ||
+ | Richard Rix<br /> | ||
+ | Benjamin Brown<br /> | ||
+ | Jade Williams<br /> | ||
+ | Thomas Crenshaw<br /> | ||
+ | William Mitchener<br /> | ||
+ | Samuel Murray<br /> | ||
+ | Isaac Thompson<br /> | ||
+ | George Gregg<br /> | ||
+ | Joseph Talbot<br /> | ||
+ | Jonas Potts<br /> | ||
+ | James Hamilton<br /> | ||
+ | <br /> | ||
+ | <br /> | ||
+ | |||
|Third Column<br /> | |Third Column<br /> | ||
James Warrington<br /> | James Warrington<br /> | ||
− | [[William DuVal]] | + | [[William DuVal]]<br /> |
+ | John Stagg<br /> | ||
+ | George Clopton<br /> | ||
+ | John Stewart<br /> | ||
+ | Robert McCartney<br /> | ||
+ | J. Pryor<br /> | ||
+ | William Fontaine<br /> | ||
+ | Hale Sharp<br /> | ||
+ | John Andrews<br /> | ||
+ | Joseph Woodson<br /> | ||
+ | Thomas Wafford<br /> | ||
+ | Joseph Mitter<br /> | ||
+ | Frederick Honaker<br /> | ||
+ | William Bryan<br /> | ||
+ | Joseph Lair<br /> | ||
+ | Elliot Rutherford<br /> | ||
+ | Gordon Rogers<br /> | ||
+ | Enos (Dorinis?)<br /> | ||
+ | George Murray<br /> | ||
+ | John Robertson<br /> | ||
+ | Samuel Weeks<br /> | ||
+ | Enos Tail<br /> | ||
+ | Benjamin Pinnell<br /> | ||
+ | Richard Parks<br /> | ||
+ | John Hutt<br /> | ||
+ | David Robinson<br /> | ||
+ | Eskridge Hall<br /> | ||
+ | John Stevens<br /> | ||
+ | George Arnold<br /> | ||
+ | John Saunders<br /> | ||
+ | Edmond Cole<br /> | ||
+ | William Ellis<br /> | ||
+ | Emward Wilkinson<br /> | ||
+ | William Clayton<br /> | ||
+ | Joseph Smith<br /> | ||
+ | Joseph Jenny<br /> | ||
+ | William Barnes<br /> | ||
+ | Isaac Siddal<br /> | ||
+ | Thomas Smith<br /> | ||
+ | Samuel Thompson<br /> | ||
+ | Samuel Donahue<br /> | ||
+ | <br /> | ||
+ | <br /> | ||
+ | |||
|Fourth Column<br /> | |Fourth Column<br /> | ||
Samuel Tyler<br /> | Samuel Tyler<br /> | ||
− | Anthony Singleton | + | Anthony Singleton<br /> |
+ | Robert Pleasant (Jr.?)<br /> | ||
+ | John Marshall<br /> | ||
+ | William Dabney<br /> | ||
+ | Jackson Frayser<br /> | ||
+ | Samuel Parsons<br /> | ||
+ | Alexander Buchanan<br /> | ||
+ | Ebenezar Maul<br /> | ||
+ | Daniel Butter<br /> | ||
+ | David Bullock<br /> | ||
+ | William McKee<br /> | ||
+ | Andrew Muirhead<br /> | ||
+ | Michael Bachar<br /> | ||
+ | Cornelius Bryan<br /> | ||
+ | William Gray<br /> | ||
+ | Archer Rutherford<br /> | ||
+ | Josiah Shipman Jr.<br /> | ||
+ | John Stephen<br /> | ||
+ | John J. Woodick<br /> | ||
+ | Reuben Moore<br /> | ||
+ | John Weeks<br /> | ||
+ | John Hickman<br /> | ||
+ | William Pinnell<br /> | ||
+ | Byron Mcgreath<br /> | ||
+ | Thomas Benton<br /> | ||
+ | Peter Harrison<br /> | ||
+ | Reuben Hrother<br /> | ||
+ | David Richardson Jr.<br /> | ||
+ | Edward T. Rowgee<br /> | ||
+ | John Roper<br /> | ||
+ | Thomas Cowler<br /> | ||
+ | John Pierce<br /> | ||
+ | James Hill<br /> | ||
+ | William Stabler<br /> | ||
+ | Francis Hague<br /> | ||
+ | Mahlon Jenny<br /> | ||
+ | Thomas Mason <br /> | ||
+ | John Hough<br /> | ||
+ | John Hollingsworth<br /> | ||
+ | William Aniby<br /> | ||
+ | Livan Powell<br /> | ||
+ | <br /> | ||
+ | <br /> | ||
+ | |||
|Fifth Column<br /> | |Fifth Column<br /> | ||
Alexander Campbell<br /> | Alexander Campbell<br /> | ||
− | Henry (Hath?) | + | Henry (Hath?)<br /> |
+ | James Binford<br /> | ||
+ | Benjamin Lewis<br /> | ||
+ | William Lawrence<br /> | ||
+ | Joseph Butter<br /> | ||
+ | Thomas Nicholson<br /> | ||
+ | Adam Craig<br /> | ||
+ | B. Rawlings<br /> | ||
+ | Thomas Carneal<br /> | ||
+ | Matthew Woodson<br /> | ||
+ | William Hughes<br /> | ||
+ | Stephen Ruddill<br /> | ||
+ | Richard Hughes<br /> | ||
+ | Morgan Bryan<br /> | ||
+ | Michael Waring<br /> | ||
+ | William Dunnavan<br /> | ||
+ | J. Shipman Sr.<br /> | ||
+ | Jacob Myer<br /> | ||
+ | B. Tilden<br /> | ||
+ | John Hickman<br /> | ||
+ | Samuel Jenkins<br /> | ||
+ | James Samuel Wright<br /> | ||
+ | Daniel Field<br /> | ||
+ | John Thornhill<br /> | ||
+ | James Robertson<br /> | ||
+ | Thomas Maddox<br /> | ||
+ | William Thomas<br /> | ||
+ | John West<br /> | ||
+ | Richard Pope<br /> | ||
+ | John Gadbury<br /> | ||
+ | Henry Cowler<br /> | ||
+ | Walter Hopkins<br /> | ||
+ | Francis Lennard<br /> | ||
+ | Joseph Beale<br /> | ||
+ | Isaac Harris<br /> | ||
+ | Samuel Haugh<br /> | ||
+ | John Hirsh<br /> | ||
+ | William Hough<br /> | ||
+ | Joseph Wood<br /> | ||
+ | Nathaniel Stephens<br /> | ||
+ | William Hartshorn,<br /> | ||
+ | Abraham Gilpin<br /> | ||
+ | <br /> | ||
+ | |||
|Sixth Column<br /> | |Sixth Column<br /> | ||
John Barrit<br /> | John Barrit<br /> | ||
− | (Jane Younghusband?) | + | (Jane Younghusband?)<br /> |
+ | Charles Copland<br /> | ||
+ | (Lain?) J Johnson<br /> | ||
+ | Robert Gambler<br /> | ||
+ | John Butter<br /> | ||
+ | William Carter (Sr.?)<br /> | ||
+ | Robert Langley<br /> | ||
+ | John Harris<br /> | ||
+ | James Ferguson<br /> | ||
+ | Josiah Woodson<br /> | ||
+ | Thomas Harrison<br /> | ||
+ | John Claypott<br /> | ||
+ | Paul Kauster<br /> | ||
+ | Abner Wiseman<br /> | ||
+ | Robert Harrison<br /> | ||
+ | Joseph Domey<br /> | ||
+ | James Spinks<br /> | ||
+ | Josiah Moore<br /> | ||
+ | Hugh Kennedy<br /> | ||
+ | Hezekiah (Bonkon?)<br /> | ||
+ | Jessie Veach<br /> | ||
+ | Michael Humble<br /> | ||
+ | Reason Benton<br /> | ||
+ | Hercules Hawkins<br /> | ||
+ | John Hartford<br /> | ||
+ | James Haughter<br /> | ||
+ | Daniel Carrole<br /> | ||
+ | Edward Teffin<br /> | ||
+ | Richard Johnson<br /> | ||
+ | William Armistead<br /> | ||
+ | John Hackaday<br /> | ||
+ | William Williamson<br /> | ||
+ | John Christian<br /> | ||
+ | Robert Drake<br /> | ||
+ | Stephen Wilson<br /> | ||
+ | Benjamin Willett<br /> | ||
+ | Isaac Moore<br /> | ||
+ | John Schooley<br /> | ||
+ | Benjami Hereford<br /> | ||
+ | Francis Hereford<br /> | ||
+ | John Littlejohn<br /> | ||
+ | Benjamin (Shreve?)<br /> | ||
+ | <br /> | ||
+ | <br /> | ||
+ | <br /> | ||
+ | |||
|} | |} | ||
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===Page four=== | ===Page four=== |
Revision as of 09:53, 3 February 2016
Text of the petition
Page one
To The Speaker and House of Delegates in Virginia. The Petition of sundry Inhabitants of various parts of this State.
Respectfully Sheweth.
That your petitioners, from a full conviction that slavery is not only a moral but a political evil, which in all its forms, in all its degrees, is an outrageous violation and an odious degradation of human nature, tending to weaken the bonds of society, discourage trades and manufactures, indanger the peace and obstruct the prosperity of the country. And commiserating the unhappy situation of a large proportion of people within this state who by the Laws now in force, are held as personal property and they and their innocent offspring liable to be kept in perpetual bondage and ignorance, subject to the arbitrary will of those who hold them, as well in respect to inhuman treatment, as in unnatural separation from the most near and dear connections in life without appeal and without redress. They therefore conceive themselves in duty bound to remind this House as the proper guardians of every description of men within the State of a subject so interesting, and which appears to them in a particular manner, to call the attention and require the interposition of the Legislature.
Your Petitioners regret that several States within the American Union where these unalienable rights of human nature to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness have been so clearly defined and successfully assured, should in contradiction thereto and contrary to the divine command of, “doing to others as they would they should do unto them,” suffer under sanction of Law so large a number of fellow men to remain in a state of abject slavery; at a time too, when the burning spirit of liberty seems to be diffusing itself through the world.
Your Petitioners are aware of the objections that probably would arise to a general and immediate Emancipation, as well from interested motives, as the unfitness of individuals for freedom: They are not insensible that a people long destitute of the means of mental improvement may in some instances be sunk below the common standard of human nature; accustomed to move at the will of a master or overseer, reflection may in some degree be suspended and reason and conviction have but little influence on their conduct; They are also sensible to the effect of custom, and the prejudices arising from a habit of looking upon the African race as an inferior species of mankind, and regarding them only as property. Believing nevertheless that, “God is no respecter of persons,” that he “hath made of one blood all Nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the Earth,” and that, “his mercies are over all his works;” Encouraged also by that gracious declaration of our Saviour as an excitement to acts of humanity and benevolence, viz. “Verily I say unto you inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Your Petitioner therefore in discharge of the duty they owe to the merciful Father of all the families of the Earth; compassion for the sufferers; and a desire to promote the true interest and prosperity of the Country; and also to remove as much as may be the objections which may arise from motives of present interest or the unfitness of individuals for freedom, and at the same time gradually abolish an evil of great magnitude: They humbly propose, and pray, that a law may be (made?) declaring the children slaves now born, or to be born after the passing of such act, to be made free, as they (text obscured).
Page two
ages; to (inform?) their instruction to Read (??) and to invest them with suitable privileges as an (excitement?) to become useful citizens; and also to restrain the holders from inhuman treatment of those who may remain in Bondage. Or that the House may grant such other relief as in its wisdom may seem meet.
First Column David Meade
|
Second Column John Harvie
|
Third Column James Warrington
|
Fourth Column Samuel Tyler
|
Fifth Column Alexander Campbell
|
Sixth Column John Barrit |
Page four
First Column John Davenport |
Second Column John Turner |
Third Column Edward Tiffin |
Fourth Column Thornton Fleming |
Fifth Column John Steed |
Sixth Column Anthony Hall |
Thomas Ocean Jh. Granthan Henry Smith Robert Lowe George Bruce James Wall Charles Hewlit John Bond George Reed Thomas Taylor (Meneios?) Ellis Samuel Smith Joseph Dobby James Daveion (Obscured) Frum Abner Golet Josiah P. Clutter James Crumbley Goerge Hite James Laurence Peter McMahon Aaron Dolby Joseph Fletcher John Knott Lewis Duckwell James Law William Ambrose Nicholas Stovin John Fennis Joseph Duckwell Philip Clover Thomas Halladay Michel Gray Frederick Duckwell Charles Robinson John Barlaw Ambrose Clark Stephen Harlin (Gn.?) Bailey John Butter William Mereir John Dougherty James Hedges Jessie Harlan Joshua Hodges John Hite Joseph Hedges John Vinsanheller Thomas Hale Benjamin (Boydston?) John Welsh Jr. Samuel J. Welsh Joseph Fohman Thomas Boydston Presley Boydston Ralph Potter Lindsey Marshall Michael Porter Richard Swift Joseph Stone Alexander Lenierr Baid Cross William Lemon Thomas Curry John Franklin Joseph Franklin Joseph Franklin Jr. Hezekiah Stephens John Murphy Solomon Chaffis Jacob Fletcher Thomas Perkin Enoch Martin Nathaniel Mulliner George Manual Joseph Gee Solomon Chalsen Christian Bloom Benjamin Welsh Edward Frojatt? James Hood Jonas Hodges Jr. Abel Walker John Antrein (?Joseph) Hare Evan Rogers Jonathon Wright James Mendenhall Nathaniel White Sr. William McPherson William Heil Richard Ridgeway Edward Beeson Abraham Branson David Ross Daniel Brown Moses? Harlan Joseph Smith Nathaniel White Jr. Joseph Bond Nathan Haines Samuel Finish James Baley John Cowgill William Supton Isaac Brown Stephen McBride Lewis Walker Robert Haines John Ellis John Witt Robert Pleasants James Lownes Robert Evans Samuel Pleasants James Wood