Difference between revisions of "Anti-Slavery Petition of 1795"

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Petition, page one.

A petition by "sundry inhabitants" of Virginia, presented to the House of Delegates in Richmond, Virginia on November 16, 1795, declaring the evils of the institution of slavery.^[1] No going so far as to demand immediate emancipation, the petitioners request a law be passed restricting "inhuman treatment" of slaves, and guaranteeing the freedom of children born to slaves after the law is enacted.^[2]

The reading of the petition before the Virginia legislature was recorded in the House Journal:

A petition of sundry inhabitants of various parts of this state, whose names are thereunto subscribed, was presented and read, setting forth, that they consider slavery not only a moral but a political evil, which in all its forms, and degrees, is an outrageous violation and odious degradation of man, tending to weaken the bands [sic] of society, and endanger the peace and obstruct the prosperity of the country; and praying that an act may pass to ameliorate the present condition of slaves, and give freedom to such as shall be born after the passing of the said act.

Ordered, That the said petition be referred to a committee of the whole House, on the 31st day of March next.^[3]

There are 393 petitioners named, including John Marshall, William DuVal, and George Wythe. There was no result recorded with the Virginia legislature from this petition, and no action taken.^[4]

Text of the petition, 16 November 1795

Page 1

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.

Crop from page two of the petition, with "Geo. Wythe" as the second name to appear.

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^t. "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 [passed] declaring the children of Slaves now born or to be born after the passing of such an Act, to be made free, as they [come to proper]

Page 2

ages to [enjoy] their instruction to Read &c. 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.

Page 3

Sundry Persons

Nov. 16^th

1795

To whole on 31^st [March?]

Page 4

See also

• George Wythe and Slavery

References

1. ↑ "An Act to ameliorate the present condition of slaves, and give freedom to those born after the passing of the act." Library of Virginia, Legislative Petitions microfilm, Reel 233, Box 294, Folder 5.
2. ↑ The text of this petition was first recorded in "Antislavery Petitions Presented to the Virginia Legislature by Citizens of Various Counties," Journal of Negro History 12, no. 4 (October, 1927), 671-73.
3. ↑ Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Begun and Held at the Capitol, in the City of Richmond, on Tuesday, the Tenth Day of November, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety-Five, (Richmond, VA: Augustine Davis, 1795), 15. Augustine Davis, printer for the state, is named in the petition.
4. ↑ "Petition 11679501 Details," Race and Slavery Petitions Project, University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
5. ↑ Possibly the Richmond printer Thomas Nicolson, who published Wythe's Reports, in 1795.
6. ↑ Samuel Pleasants (d. 1814), printer, bookseller, and editor of the Virginia Argus newspaper in Richmond.

External links

• Legislative Petitions Digital Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. Please note the incorrect document link.
• Race and Slavery Petitions Project, University of North Carolina at Greensboro.