The New-Jersey gazette — Burlington [N.J.], 1780-05-17 00:00:00, page 1

narily called upon by the bleflings which we have re
ceived, to manifeft the sincerity of our profcilion,
and to give a substantial proof of our gratitude.
And whereas the condition of those persons who
have heretofore been denominated Negroe and Mu
latto Haves, has been attended with circumstances
which not only deprived them of the common bles
sings that they were by nature entitled to, but has
call them into the deepest afflictions by an unnatural
separation and sale of husband and wife from each o
ther, and from their children ; an injury, the great
ness of which can only be conceived by supposing that
we were in the fame unhappy case. In jultice there
fore to persons so unhappily circumstanced, and who,
having no profped before them whereon they may
rest their sorrows and their hopes, have no reasona
ble inducement to render that service to society,
which they otherwise might; and also in grateful
commemoration of our own happy deliverance from
that Rate of unconditional submission, to which we
were doomed by the tyranny of Britain ;
Be it enabled, and it is hereby enarted, by the Re
presentatives of the Freemen of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, and by'
the authority of the fame, That all persons, as well
Negroes and Mulattos as others, who shall be born
within this Itate from and after the passing of this art,
ffiall not be deemed and considered as servants for life
or slaves; and that all servitude for life or slavery of
children in consequence of the slavery of their mo
thers, in the case of all children born within this
state, from and after the passing of this art, as afore
faid, shall be, and hereby is utterly taken away, ex
tinguished, and for-ever abolished.
Provided always, and be it further enarted by the
authority aforefaid, That every Negroe and Mulatto
child born within this state after the passing of this
art as aforefaid, who would, in case this art had not
been made, have been born a servant for years or life,
or a slave, shall be deemed to be and shall be by vir
tue of this art the servant of such person or his or her
assigns, who would in such case have been entitled to
the service of such child, until such child shall attain
unto the age of twenty-eight years, in the manner
and on the conditions whereon servants bound by in
denture for four years are or may be retained and
holden ; and shall be liable to like correction and pu
niihment, and entitled to like relief in case he or the
be evilly treated by his or her matter or mistress ; and
to like freedom dues and other privileges as servants
STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
An ACT for the gradual Abolition of Slavery.
WHEN we contemplate our abhorrence of
that condition to which the arms and
tyranny of Great-Britain were exerted
to reduce us; when we look back on
the variety of dangers to which we have been exposed,
and how miraculously our wants in many instances
have been fupplicd, and our deliverances wrought;
when even hope and human fortitude have become
unequal to the conflirt ; we are unavoidably led to a
serious and grateful sense of the manifold bleflings
which we have undeservedly received from the hand
of that Being from whom every good and perfert gift
cometh. Impressed with these ideas, we conceive
that it is our duty, and we rejoice that it is in our
power, to extend a portion of that freedom to others,
which hath been extended to us ; and a release from
that date of thraldom, to which we ourselves were
tyrannically doomed, and from which we have now
every profped of being delivered. It is not for us to
inquire, why, in the creation of mankind, the inha
bitants of the fcveral parts of the earth were diltin
guifhed by a difference in feature or complexion. It
is fufficient to know that all are the work of an Al
mighty hand. We find in the distribution of the hu
man species, that the most fertile as well as the most
barren parts of the earth are inhabited by men of
complexions different from ours, and from each other,
from whence we may reasonably as well as religious
ly infer, that He, who placed them in their various
situations, hath extended equally His care anu pro
tection to all, and that it becometh not us to coun
teract His mercies. We esteem it a peculiar hleffing
granted to us, that we are enabled this day to add
one more step to universal civilization, by removing
as much as poflible, the sorrows of those who have
lived in undeserved bondage, and from which, by the
assumed authority of the Kings of Britain, no effec
tual legal relief could be obtained. Weaned by a
long course of experience from those narrow preju
dices and partialities we had imbibed, we find our
hearts enlarged with kindness and benevolence to
wards men of all conditions and nations; and we
conceive ourselves at this particular period extraordi-
NEW-JERSEY GAZETTE.
[Vol. Ill]
WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 1780.
bound by indenture for four years, are or may lie en
titled, unless the person to whom the service of any
such child shall belong shall abandon his or her claim
to the fame, in whicn case the Overseer of the Poor
of the city, township or diftrirt refpertively, where
such child shall be so abandoned, shall by indenture
bind out every child so abandoned, as an apprentice,
for a time not exceeding the age herein before limit
ed for the service of such children.
And be it further enarted by the authority aforefaid,
That every person who is or shall be the owner of any
Negroe or Mulatto slave or servant for life, or till the
age of thirty-one years, now within this state, or his
lawful attorney, shall on or before the said sirs tday
of November next, deliver or cau e to be delivered
in writing to the Clerk of the Peace of the county, or
to the Clerk of the Court of Record of the city of
Philadelphia, in which he or the shall refpertively in
habit, the name and firname and occupation or pro
feffion of such owner, and the name of the county
and township, diftrid or ward, wherein he or she re
sides ; and also the name aid names of any such slave
and slaves, and servant anu servants for life or till the
age of thirty-one years, together with their ages and
sexes severally and relpcftivdy set forth and annexed,
by inch person owned or ftatedly employed, and then
being within this state, in order to afeertain and dis
tinguish the slaves and servants for life and years, till
the age of thirty-one years, within this state, who
shall be such on the said sirs tday of November next,
from all other persons ; which particulars shall by said
Clerk of the Seflions and Clerk of said City-Court be
entered in books to be provided for that purpose by
the said Clerks; and that no Negroe or Mulatto now
within this state shall, from and alter the said firft day
of November, be deemed a slave or servant for life or
till the age of thirty-one years, unless his or her name
shall be entered as aforefaid on such records, except
such Negroe and Mulatto Haves and servants as are
herein after excepted, the said Clerk to be entitled to
a fee of Tqvo Dollars for each slave or servant so en
tered as aforefaid, from the Treasurer of the county,
to be allowed to him in his accounts.
Provided always, That any person in whom the
ownership or right to the service of any Negroe or
Mulatto shall be vested, at the passing of this art, other
than such as are herein before excepted, his or her
heirs, executors, adminiltrators and assigns and all
and every of them, severally shall be liable to the
Overseers of the poor of the city, township or diftrirt
to which any such Negroe or Mulatto shall become
chargeable, for such neceflary expence, with costs of
suit thereon, as such Overseers may be put to through
the neglert of the owner, matter or mistress of such
Negroe or Mulatto, notwithstanding the name and
other descriptions of such Negroe or Mulatto shall not
be entered and recorded as aforefaid, unless his or
her mailer or owner shall before such slave or servant
attain his or her twenty-eighth year, execute and re
cord in the proper county, a deed or instrument, se
curing to such slave or servant his or her freedom.
And be it further ena&ed by the authority afore
faid, That the offences and crimes of Negroes and
Mulattos, as well slaves and servants and freemen,
shall be enquired of, adjudged, corrected and punish
ed in like manner as the offences and crimes of the
other inhabitants of this state are, and shall be enquir
ed of, adjudged, corrected and punished, and not
otherwise ; except that a Have shall not be admitted
to bear witness against a freeman.
And be it further enacted by the authority afore
faid, That in all cases wherein sentence of death Ihrdi
be pronounced against a slave, the jury before whom
he or she shall be tried, shall appraise and declare the
value of such slave, and in case such sentence be exe
cuted, the Court shall make an order on the State-
Treasurer, payable to the owner for the fame, and
for the costs of prosecution, but in case of a remissi
on or mitigation, for the costs only.
And be it further enacted by the authority afore
faid, That the reward for taking up runaway and ab
sconding Negroe and Mulatto Haves and servants, and
the penalties for enticing away, dealing with, or har
bouring, concealing or employing Negroe and Mulat
to Haves and servants shall be the fame, and shall be
recovered in like manner, as in case of servants bound
for four years.
And be it further enarted by the authority afore
faid, That no man or woman of any nation or colour,
except the Negroes or Mulattos, who shall be regis
tered as aforefaid, shall at any time hereafter be deem
ed, adjudged or holden, within the territories of this
Commonwealth, as Haves or servants for life, but as
freemen and freewomen, and except the domestic
slaves attending upon Delegates in Congress, from
the other American states, foreign Ministers and Con
T H E
fuls, and persons passing through, or fojaurning in
this state, and not becoming resident therein, and
teamen employed in ships, not belonging to any in
habitant of this state, nor employed in any Ihip own
ed by any such inhabitant. Provided, such domestic
slaves be not aliened or fold to any inhabitant, nor
(except in the case of Members of Congress, foreign
Ministers and Consuls) retained in this state longer
than fix months.
Provided always, and be it further enarted by the
authority aforefaid, That this art nor any thing in it
contained, shall not give any relief or Shelter to any
absconding or runaway Negroe or Mulatto Have or
servant, who has absented himfelf or shall absent him
fclf from his or her owner, matter or mistress, raid
ing in any other state or country, but such owner,
matter or mistress, shall have like right and aid to de
mand, claim and take away his slave or servant, as
he might have had in case this art had not been n ;de:
And that all Negroe and Mulatto slaves, now o, ned,
find heretofore resident in this state, who have ab
sented themselves, or been clandestinely carried away,
or who may be employed abroad as seamen, and have
not returned or been brought back to their owners,
masters or mistresses, before the passing of this art,
may within five years be registered as effertually as is
ordered by this art, concerning those who are now
within the Hate, on producing such slave, before any
two Justices of the Peace, and fatisfying the said Jus
tices by due proof, of the former reticence, abfeond
ing, taring away, or absence of such Have as afore
faid; who thereupon shall direct and order the said
Have to be entered on the record as aforefaid.
AND WHEREAS attempts may be made to evade
this art by introducing into this Hate Negroes and
Mulattos, bound by covenant to serve for long and
unreasonable terms of years, if the fame be not pre
vented ;
Be it therefore enarted by the authority aforefaid,
That no covenant of personal servitude or apprentice
ship whatsoever shall be valid or binding on a Negroe
or Mulatto for a longer time than seven years, unless
such servant or apprentice were at the commencement
of such servitude or apprenticeship under the age of
twenty-one years, in which case such Negroe or Mu
latto may be holden as a servant or apprentice re
fpertively, according to the covenant, as the case
shall be, until he or Hie shall attain the age of twen
ty-eight years, but no longer,
And be it further enarted by the authority afore
faid, J hat an art of Assembly of the province of Penn
sylvania, passed in the year one thousand seven hun
dred and five, intitled, “ An Art for the trial of Ne
groes ;” and another art of Assembly of the said pro
vince, passed in the year one thousand seven hundred
and twenty-five, intitled, “ An Art for the better
regulating of Negroes in this province ;” and another
art of Assembly of the said province, passed in the
year oie thousand seven hundred and sixty-ons, in
titled, " An Art for laying a duty on Negroe and Mu
latto Haves imported into this province ;" and also
another art of Assembly of the said province, palled
in the year one thousand seven hundred and feventy
three, intitled, " An Art for making perpetual an aft
for laying a duty on Negroe and Mulatto Haves im
ported into this province, and for laying an addition
al duty on said Haves," shall be and are hereby re
pealed, annulled and made void.
JOHN BAYAR D, Speaker.
Enarted into a Law, at Philadelphia,
on Wednesday, theist day of March,
Anno Domini, One thousand seven
hundred and eighty.
THOMAS PAIN E,
Clerk of the General Assembly.
GEN O A, January i.
A VESSEL which arrived here this week from,
Tunis, brought a letter to the Dutch Confute,
dated Tunis, Nov. 29, which mentions advice being;
received from Tripoli, in Barbary, " that one of tine
uncles of the Pacha had revolted against him, and
was advanced at the head of an army to within a day's
journey of that capital, which had caused the greatest
confufion imaginable ; that the Christians were Ihip
ping themselves and their most valuable efferts on
board the vessels in the port, and the Moors and Jews
were securing their money and jewels, as a general pil
lage was experted if the rebels could get into the city."
Cordova in t/^e Tucuman, ^une 1, 1779. In the vil
lage of Altagratia there lives a Negro woman, who,
according to the most authentic information and tes
timonies taken judicially, must be about 1.75 years
old : She is extremely thin, very much wrinkled, and
bent double, but she can fee at a few paces distant,
and spins; but what is molt extraordinary, tho' She
[Numb. 125.]