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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC03970 |
| From Archive Folder | Documents Relating to 1765-1774 |
| Title | Announcement of amendment to law on slave trials for capital crimes |
| Date | 15 November 1768 |
| Author | Blair, John, Sr. (1687-1771) |
| Document Type | Government document; Legal document |
| Content Description | Partially printed document signed by Blair as President of the Virginia Council and Commander in Chief of the colony to the justices of the peace of Buckingham County. Transmits amendments made to "An Act directing the Trial of Slaves committing Capital Crimes, and for the more effectual punishing Conspiracies and Insurrections of them, and for the better Government of Negroes, Mulattoes, and Indians, bound or free." Says the governor, and temporarily in Virginia the Commander in Chief, has the power to issue commissions of oyer and terminer to justices of each county empowering them "from Time to Time, to try, condemn, and execute, or otherwise Punish or Acquit, all Slaves committing Capital Crimes within their County." |
| Subjects | Death Penalty African American History Slavery Law Rebellion Slave Rebellion Government and Civics American Indian History Crime |
| People | Blair, John (1732-1800) |
| Place written | Williamsburg, Virginia |
| Theme | Slavery & Abolition; African Americans; Law; Government & Politics; Native Americans |
| Sub-collection | The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1493-1859 |
| Additional Information | Provenance information is written in two different hands at bottom of document. States that the document was brought from Virginia during the war (probably the Civil War) by one of the sons of J.W. Swan who gave it to John Parsons. Was then presented to Stanley Brainard Medira on 27 March 1895. After Medira's death it was given to Newton Hood on 8 November 1940. Document has official colony wax seal attached to a piece of ribbon at bottom. This John Blair was father to the future U.S. Supreme Court Justice by the same name. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859 |