5151. A Bill concerning Slaves, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that no persons shall, henceforth, be slaves within this commonwealth, except such as were so on the first day of this present session of Assembly, and the descendants of the females of them. Negroes and mulattoes which shall hereafter be brought into this commonwealth and kept therein one whole year, together, or so long at different times as shall...
5252. A Bill concerning Servants, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that all white persons, not being citizens of any of the confederating states of America, who shall come into this commonwealth under contract to serve another in any trade, or occupation, shall be compellable to perform such contract specifically during the term thereof, or during so much of the same as shall not exceed seven years. Infants under the age...
5353. A Bill for Apprehending and Securing Runaways, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that any person may apprehend a servant or slave, suspected to be a runaway, and carry him before a Justice of Peace, who, if to him the servant or slave appear, by the oath of the apprehender, to be a runaway, shall give a certificate of such oath, and the distance, in his opinion, between the place where the runaway was apprehended and that from whence...
5454. A Bill Declaring What Persons Shall Be Deemed Mulattoes, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that every person, of whose grandfathers or grandmothers any one is, or shall have been, a negro, although all his other progenitors, except that descending from the negro, shall have been white persons, shall be deemed a mulatto; and so every person, who shall have one fourth part or more of negro blood, shall, in like manner be deemed a mulatto. Report...
5555. A Bill Declaring Who Shall Be Deemed Citizens of This Commonwealth, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that all white persons born within the territory of this commonwealth and all who have resided therein two years next before the passing of this act, and all who shall hereafter migrate into the same; and shall before any court of record give satisfactory proof by their own oath or affirmation, that they intend to reside therein, and moreover shall give...
5656. A Bill concerning Aliens, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that all manner of aliens, of whatsoever nation or country they be, being in amity with the United States of America, together with their families, agents and servants whom they bring, shall be welcome, and freely may come within the commonwealth and there be conversant to merchandise and tarry, or travel, as long as them liketh, and they bear themselves...
5757. A Bill Declaring that None Shall Be Condemned without Trial, and that Justice Shall Not Be Sold or Deferred, 18 June … (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that no freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised of his freehold, or liberties, or free customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any otherwise destroyed, nor shall the commonwealth pass upon him, nor condemn him but by lawful judgment of his peers, or by the laws of the land. Justice or right shall not be sold, denied or deferred to no man....
5858. A Bill Directing What Prisoners Shall Be Let to Bail, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
For ascertaining in what cases persons apprehended on suspicion of felony shall, or shall not, be admitted to bail, Be it enacted by the General Assembly that those shall be let to bail who are apprehended for any crime not punishable in life or limb: And if the crime be so punishable, but only a light suspicion of guilt fall on the party he shall in like manner, be bailable: But if the crime...
5959. A Bill Directing the Mode of Suing Out and Prosecuting Writs of Habeas Corpus, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that whensoever a habeas corpus shall be served, by delivering it to the officer or other person to whom it is directed; or by leaving it at the jail or prison in which the party suing it out is detained; unless the warrant of committment plainly and specially express the same to have been for treason or felony; if the charges of bringing the prisoner, to...
6060. A Bill concerning Guardians, Infants, Masters, and Apprentices, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that any father, even if he be not twenty one years old, may, by deed, or last will and testament, either of them being executed in presence of two creditable witnesses, grant or devise the custody and tuition of his child, which had never been married, although it be not born, during any part of the infancy of such child, to whomsoever he will; and such...
6161. A Bill to Enable Guardians and Committees to Perform Certain Acts for the Benefit of Those Who Are under Their Care … (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that where any person under the age of twenty-one years, or of unsound mind, is, or shall be seized or possessed of any land, tenements, or hereditaments, in trust, or by way of mortgage, the guardian of the one, or committee of the other, by order of the High Court of Chancery, made upon the petition of one or more of the parties interested, and after...
6262. A Bill for the Restraint, Maintenance, and Cure of Persons not Sound in Mind, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the present directors of the hospital for reception of persons of unsound minds, and their successors, to be chosen when vacancies happen, by joint ballot of both Houses of General Assembly, are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, to have perpetual continuance, by the name of the Directors of the Hospital, for the maintenance and cure of...
6363. A Bill for Registering Births and Deaths, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that notice, in writing, of the birth, and time of the birth, of every child shall be given to the Assessors of the public taxes of the hundred, wherein the birth shall have been, at the time of making the assessment next after such birth, by the father, or, if he be dead or unknown, by the mother of the child, in case such mother be a free woman; or, if...
6464. A Bill for Proportioning Crimes and Punishments in Cases Heretofore Capital, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Whereas it frequently happens that wicked and dissolute men resigning themselves to the dominion of inordinate passions, commit violations on the lives, liberties and property of others, and, the secure enjoyment of these having principally induced men to enter into society, government would be defective in it’s principal purpose were it not to restrain such criminal acts, by inflicting due...
6565. A Bill Punishing Persons Guilty of Certain Forgeries, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that he or she shall be adjudged a felon, and not have the benefit of clergy, who shall falsely make, forge, or counterfeit, or aid or assist in falsely making, forging, or counterfeiting a writing signed and directed or certified to the public Treasurer, purporting to be a warrant of the Governor or other person exercising that function, or a certificate...
6666. A Bill concerning Treasons, Felonies and Other Offences Committed Out of the Jurisdiction of this Commonwealth, 18 … (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that all high treasons, misprisions and concealments of high treasons and other offences, except piracies and felonies committed by any citizen of this commonwealth, in any place out of the jurisdiction of the courts of common law of this commonwealth, and all felonies committed by citizen against citizen in any such place, other than the high seas, shall...
6767. A Bill concerning Truces, Safe Conducts, Passports, Licenses and Letters of Marque, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
For enforcing due regard to truces, letters of safe conduct, passports, and licenses, and fixing rules for granting them, as also for granting letters of marque and reprisal, Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that letters of safe conduct, passports, and licenses, may be granted by the American Congress, by the Governor, or by any Ambassador or other public minister duly appointed by the...
6868. A Bill for the Employment, Government and Support of Malefactors Condemned to Labour for the Commonwealth, 18 June … (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that malefactors condemned by judgment of law to hard labour, in the public works, in punishment of their crimes, shall be employed to row in the gallies of the commonwealth, or to work in the lead mines, or on fortifications or such other hard and laborious works, for the behoof of the commonwealth, as by the Governor and Council, in their discretion,...
6969. A Bill to Encourage the Apprehending of Horse Stealers, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that whosoever shall apprehend one charged with horse stealing, if the prisoner be convicted of that crime, shall be intitled to a reward of pounds, to be paid by the Treasurer, upon a certificate of the General Court, that the claimant was the apprehender, and either that he was not examined as a witness at the trial, or that the other evidence then...
7070. A Bill for Preserving the Privileges of Ambassadors, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
For preserving the privileges of Ambassadors and other public ministers from other states, it is declared by the General Assembly, that all process whereby the person of any such Ambassador, or other public minister, authorised and received as such by this commonwealth, or by the Congress of the American States, in union with this commonwealth, or any his domestic servants whom he brought with...
7171. A Bill for the Suppression and Punishment of Riots, Routs, and Unlawful Assemblies, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that if any riot, assembly or rout of people against the law, be made in any part of the commonwealth, the Justices of Peace, three, or two of them at the least, and the sheriff or under sheriff of the county where such riot, assembly or rout shall be made, shall come with the power of the county (if need be) to arrest them, and shall arrest them. And the...
7272. A Bill Forbidding and Punishing Affrays, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that no man great nor small, of what condition soever he be, except the ministers of justice in executing the precepts of the Courts of Justice, or in executing of their office, and such as be in their company assisting them be so hardy to come before the Justices of any court, or other of their ministers of justice doing their office, with force and arms...
7373. A Bill against Conspirators, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it declared and enacted by the General Assembly, that conspirators be they that do confederate or bind themselves by oath, covenant, or other alliance that every of them shall aid and bear the other falsely and maliciously to move or cause to be moved any indictment or information against another on the part of the commonwealth, and those who are convicted thereof at the suit of the...
7474. A Bill against Conveying or Taking Pretensed Titles, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that no person shall convey or take, or bargain to convey or take, any pretensed title to any lands or tenements, unless the person conveying or bargaining to convey, or those under whom he claims shall have been in possession of the same, or of the reversion or remainder thereof one whole year next before. And he who offendeth herein knowingly shall...
7575. A Bill to Punish Bribery and Extortion, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that no Treasurer, keeper of any public seal, Councillor of State, counsel for the commonwealth, Judge, clerk of the peace, sheriff, coroner, escheator, nor any other officer of the commonwealth, shall in time to come take, in any form, any manner of gift, brocage, or reward for doing his office, other than is or shall be allowed by some act of General...
7676. A Bill Prescribing the Punishment of Those Who Sell Unwholesome Meat or Drink, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that a butcher that selleth the flesh of any animal dying, otherwise than by slaughter, or slaughtered when diseased, or a baker, brewer, or distiller, who selleth unwholesome bread or drink shall, on conviction the first time, be amerced; the second time he shall suffer judgment of the pillory, and the third time he shall be imprisoned and make fine; and...
7777. A Bill to Prevent the Spreading of the Small-Pox, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that it shall not be lawful for the master or mistress of a family, of which no one was before casually infected with the small-pox, to inoculate any person at his or her house, or, if any there be infected, to inoculate one who is not of his or her family, or knowingly suffer another to do it, or bring or suffer to come an infected person thither, until...
7878. A Bill for Compelling Vessels and Persons Coming, and Goods Brought from Infected Places, to Perform Quarantine, 18 … (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that vessels, persons, and merchandize, coming or brought into any place within this commonwealth from any other part of the world, whence the Governor, with advice of his council, shall judge it probable, that any plague, or other infectious disease, may be brought, shall be obliged to make their quarantine in such place, during such time and in such...
7979. A Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Whereas it appeareth that however certain forms of government are better calculated than others to protect individuals in the free exercise of their natural rights, and are at the same time themselves better guarded against degeneracy, yet experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms, those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny; and it...
8080. A Bill for Amending the Constitution of the College of William and Mary, and Substituting More Certain Revenues for … (Jefferson Papers)
Whereas a scheme for cultivating and disseminating useful knowledge in this country, which had been proposed by some of its liberal minded inhabitants, before the year 1690 of the Christian epocha, was approved, adopted, and cherished, by the General Assembly, upon whose petition King William and Queen Mary of England, to the crown whereof the people here at that time acknowledged themselves,...
8181. A Bill for Establishing a Public Library, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that on the first day of January, in every year there shall be paid out of the treasury the sum of two thousand pounds, to be laid out in such books and maps as may be proper to be preserved in a public library, and in defraying the expences necessary for the care and preservation thereof; which library shall be established at the town of Richmond. The...
8282. A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Well aware that the opinions and belief of men depend not on their own will, but follow involuntarily the evidence proposed to their minds; that Almighty God hath created the mind free, and manifested his supreme will that free it shall remain by making it altogether insusceptible of restraint ; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments, or burthens, or by civil...
8383. A Bill for Saving the Property of the Church Heretofore by Law Established, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the several tracts of Glebe land, the churches, and chapels, the books, vestments, plate and ornaments, all arrears of money and tobacco, and all property real and personal of private donation, which on the seventh day of October, in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy six, were vested in any persons whatever for the use of the English...
8484. A Bill for Punishing Disturbers of Religious Worship and Sabbath Breakers, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that no officer, for any civil cause, shall arrest any minister of the gospel, licensed according to the rules of his sect, and who shall have taken the oath of fidelity to the commonwealth, while such minister shall be publicly preaching or performing religious worship in any church, chapel, or meeting-house, on pain of imprisonment and amercement, at...
8585. A Bill for Appointing Days of Public Fasting and Thanksgiving, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the power of appointing days of public fasting and humiliation, or thanksgiving, throughout this commonwealth, may in the recess of the General Assembly, be exercised by the Governor, or Chief Magistrate, with the advice of the Council; and such appointment shall be notified to the public, by a proclamation, in which the occasion of the fasting or...
8686. A Bill Annulling Marriages Prohibited by the Levitical Law, and Appointing the Mode of Solemnizing Lawful Marriage … (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that marriages prohibited by the Levitical law shall be null; and persons marrying contrary to that prohibition, and cohabiting as man and wife, convicted thereof in the General Court, shall be amerced, from time to time, until they separate. A marriage between a person of free condition and a slave, or between a white person and a negro, or between a...
8787. A Bill against Usury, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that no person shall hereafter, upon any contract take, directly or indirectly, for loan of any money, wares or merchandize, or other commodity, above the value of five pounds, for the forbearance of one hundred pounds, for a year, and, after that rate, for a greater or lesser sum, or for a longer or shorter time; and all bonds, contracts, covenants,...
8888. A Bill to Prevent Gaming, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that every promise, agreement, note, bill, bond, or other contract, to pay, deliver, or secure money, or other thing, won, or obtained, by playing at cards, dice, tables, tennis bowles, or other game, or by betting or laying on the hands or sides of any person who shall play at such games, or won, or obtained, by betting or laying on any horse race, or...
8989. A Bill to Prevent Forestalling, Regrating, and Engrossing, and Sales by Auction, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that if any person shall buy, or cause to be bought, any goods, wares, merchandize, or victual, which at the time of purchase shall be under carriage or transportation to any market or fair within this commonwealth, to be sold therein, or to any city or town wherein there is no public market established or to any port or harbour of this commonwealth for...
9090. A Bill Constituting the High Court of Chancery, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the Court of Equity, called the High Court of Chancery, consisting of the present three Judges thereof, or their successors, to be appointed, when vacancies happen, in manner herein after directed, of whom any two are declared to be a sufficient number to constitute a court, shall be a Court of Record, and have jurisdiction over all persons, and in...
9191. A Bill Constituting the General Court, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the court of common law, called the General Court, consisting of the present Chief Justice, and the four other Judges thereof, or their successors, to be appointed, when vacancies happen, in the manner herein after directed, of whom any three or four are declared to be a sufficient number to constitute the court, shall have jurisdiction over all...
9292. A Bill Constituting the Court of Admiralty, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the Court of Admiralty, to consist of three Judges, any two of whom are declared to be a sufficient number to constitute a court, shall have jurisdiction in all maritime causes, except those wherein any parties may be accused of capital offences, now depending and hereafter to be brought before them, shall take precedence in court according to the...
9393. A Bill Constituting the Court of Appeals, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that a Court of Appeals, for hearing and determining suits which ought to be instituted there, and for finally deciding those which are herein after referred to that tribunal, shall be holden twice in every year, namely, on the twenty ninth, or, when that shall happen to be Sunday, on the thirtieth, day of March and August, and shall sit, in the whole,...
9494. A Bill for Constituting Courts Martial, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that it shall be lawful for the Governor, with advice of the Council of State, by commission, to be directed to three or more able and sufficient persons to constitute, from time to time, so often as occasion may require, a Court Martial, to which it shall pertain to have cognizance of things touching war out of the commonwealth, and also of things that...
9595. A Bill Constituting Justices of the Peace and County Courts, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the Aldermen to be elected for every county, who by that election shall stand nominated to be Justices for the said county, if they were not such before, shall on the first Monday in after their election, if fair, if not, on the next fair day, Sunday excluded, laying aside all excuses, other than grievous sickness, convene at the court-house of the...
9696. A Bill concerning Sheriffs, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that each county court shall, annually, in the months of July, or August, recommend three persons, named in the commission of the peace, one of whom shall be commissioned by the Governor, or Commander in Chief, with advice of the Council, on the twenty fourth, or twenty fifth, day of October following, to execute the office of Sheriff of such county, for...
9797. A Bill for Licensing Counsel, Attorneys at Law, and Proctors, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that no person, except the Attorney General, shall be permitted by any court to practice therein as a Counsel, Attorney at law, or Proctor, unless he shall heretofore have obtained a license, in the manner prescribed by the law then in force, or until he shall obtain a license, in writing, from three of those, who shall be at that time, Judges of the High...
9898. A Bill Prescribing the Oath of Fidelity, and the Oaths of Certain Public Officers, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that every person, by law required to give assurance of fidelity, shall, for that purpose, take an oath in this form, “I do declare myself a citizen of the commonwealth of Virginia. I relinquish and renounce the character of subject or citizen of any Prince, or other state, whatsoever, and abjure all allegiance, which may be claimed by such Prince, or...
9999. A Bill to Prevent the Sale of Public Offices, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that if any person shall, for valuable consideration, dispose of any office which concerns the receipt, or the controlment or auditing accounts, of the public revenue, taxes, or duties; the office of Attorney for the commonwealth, clerk of the Council, or of any other public board, clerk of a Court of Record, sheriff, Naval-Officer, Advocate, Register, or...
100100. A Bill Directing the Method of Proceeding upon Impeachments, 18 June 1779 (Jefferson Papers)
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the process against any person impeached by resolution of the House of Delegates shall be summons, attachments and distress, bearing teste, the first of them the day of emanation, and the others the return-day of the process preceeding, and shall be issued and signed by the clerk of the said court. A copy of the articles of impeachment shall be...