Nov.5,1818, Public Acts 43rd G.A.[1st & 2nd sittings], p.3-6.
|
|
Sec. 1. BE IT ENACTED, by the Council and General Assembly of this state, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same That no negro, or other slave, or servant of colour, for life or years, shall hereafter be removed, exported, or carried out of this state, except as herein after provided.
Sec. 2. And be it enacted, That if any person shall send to sea or export, or attempt to export from this state, or send or carry out of, or attempt to send or carry out of this state, except as is by this act provided, any slave or servant of colour, for life or years, every person so exporting or attempting to export, or sending or carrying out of this state, or attempting to send or carry out of this state, such slave or servant, and his, her, or their aiders and abettors shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be punished by fine, not less than one thousand, nor more than two thousand dollars, or imprisoned at hard labour for any term not less than two, nor more than four years, or both at the discretion of the court. And further, that every slave or servant so exported, or carried out of this state, or attempted to be exported or carried out of this state, or sent to be sea, shall be free.
Sec. 3. And be it enacted, That if any person shall hereafter sell, transfer, or assign any slave or servant of colour, for life or years, to any non-resident, or person not being an inhabitant of this state, or to any person intending to remove, or export, or carry such slave or servant out of this state, every person so knowingly selling, transferring, or assigning such slave or servant, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction, shall bn punished by fine not less than five hundred, nor more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not less than one year nor more than two years, or both at the discretion of the court. And further, that every slave or servant so sold, transferred, or assigned to any non-resident, or person not being an inhabitant of this state, or to any person intending to remove, or export, or carry away such slave or servant, out of this state, shall be free.
Sec. 4. And be it enacted, That if any person shall purchase or take a transfer or assignment, of any slave or servant of colour, for life or years, with a design or intent to export or send or carry such slave or servant out of this state, such person shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction, shall be punished by fine not less than one thousand, nor more than two thousand dollars, or by imprisonment at hard labour, not less than two, nor more than four years, or both, at the discretion of the court. And further, that every slave or servant so purchased, transferred, or assigned, shall be free.
Sec. 5. And be it enacted, That if any person or persons shall fit out, equip, or man, or otherwise prepare any ship or other vessel, to sail from any port or harbour of this state, for the purpose of exporting or carrying but of this state, or sending to sea, any slave or servant of colour, for life or years, such ship or vessel, her cargo, tackle, furniture, and apparel shall be forfeited, and shall and may be seized by any justice of the peace, sheriff or coroner within the state, and prosecuted by such justice, sheriff, or coroner, making such seizure, by information in rem in the Supreme Court or the Inferior Court of Common Pleas of the county in which such seizure shall be made.
Sec. 6. And be it enacted, That every ship or vessel, with her cargo, tackle, furniture, and apparel so seized, as aforesaid, and against which judgment shall be had and obtained, shall by order of the court in which such judgment shall be had, be sold by the sheriff of the county in which such seizure was made, or in case the said sheriff be a party to the prosecution, then by one of the coroners of such county, who after deducting all legal costs and charges, to be taxed by the court in which said judgment was had, and two per cent on the amount of such sale; shall pay one half of the nett proceeds thereof to the collector of the county in which the seizure was made, for the use of the state, and the remaining part thereof to the person or persons making such seizure and prosecuting the same to effect.
Sec. 7. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for any justice of the peace, sheriff, or coroner of any county within this state, to go on board of or enter any ship or vessel lying in any port or harbour of the state, for the purpose of making the seizure aforesaid, and if any master, seaman, or other person, on board such ship or vessel, shall refuse or not suffer to enter, or resist before or after entering on board such ship or vessel, any justice of the peace, sheriff, or coroner, attempting to enter on board, or being already on board such ship or vessel, for the purpose of making such seizure as aforesaid, every person so refusing or resisting, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be punished by fine not less than one thousand, nor more than two thousand dollars, or imprisonment at hard labour not less than two, nor more than four years, or both at the discretion of the court.
Sec. 8. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for every person who shall have resided five years within this state, and who shall be about to remove permanently therefrom, to carry with him or her, every such slave as shall have been the property of such person, during five years next preceding: Provided always, that before such person shall attempt to carry away such slave, out of this state, he or she shall make satisfactory proof before the Court of Common Pleas, of the county in which he or she last resided, that such slave hath been his or her property during five years then next preceding; and shall also prove to the satisfaction of the said court, by the oath or affirmation of two credible witnesses, that such person intending to carry away such slave out of this state, hath resided within this state, five years next preceding, and that such slave hath been in the service or employ of such person, as a slave, during that time, and shall obtain from said court, a license under the seal of the court, to carry such slave out of this state; and Provided also, that such slave be of full age, and shall have consented to be carried out of this state, upon private examination before the presiding judge of said court, or in case of his absence, before any two other judges of the same, whose certificate of such consent shall be then and there produced to the court, before the granting of such license as aforesaid.
Sec. 9. And be it enacted, That every master of a vessel, who shall knowingly receive on board such vessel, for the purpose of carrying out of this state, any slave, for whose exportation a licence hath not been obtained, as herein before directed, or who having ignorantly received such slave, shall suffer such slave to depart from his said vessel, in any place out of this state, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction, shall be punished by fine not less than one thousand, nor more than two thousand dollars, or imprisonment not less than two, nor more lhan four years, or both, at the discretion of the court.
Sec. 10. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for any inhabitant of this state, going out of the same, on a journey to any other part of the United States, or for necessary business, to take with him or her any such slave or servant as aforesaid; but such inhabitant shall bring back such slave or servant, and in default thereof, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction, shall be punished by fine not less than five hundred, nor more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not less than one year, nor more than two years, or both, at the discretion of the court; unless such inhabitant shall make proof, within six months after his or her return, to the satisfaction of two of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas, of the county in which he or she shall reside, that every such slave or servant not brought back as aforesaid, could not be brought back by reason of some unavoidable accident; and unless such person shall forthwith file a certificate of having made such proof as aforesaid, signed by the said judges, in the office of the clerk of said county. And every slave or servant so taken out of this state, and not brought back as aforesaid, shall be free: Provided that nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to authorize or allow the taking away such slave or servant in any ship or vessel going to sea.
Sec. 11. And be it enacted, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed, as to prevent the sending away or exporting out of this state, any slave who may be convicted and sentenced to transportation by virtue of the act entitled " A Supple- ment to the Act entitled an Act for the Punishment of Crimes," passed the eighteenth day of March, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, and which was passed the seventh of March, one thousand eight hundred and one.
Sect. 12. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for any person, not an inhabitant of this state, who shall be travelling to or from, or passing through this state, to bring with him or her any slave, and take such slave with him or her, from this state.
Sec. 13. And be it enacted, That the act entitled "An Act Supplemental to the act entitled an Act respecting Slaves;" passed the first day of February, one thousand eight hundred and twelve: and so much of any other act or acts as comes within the purview of this act, be, and the same is hereby repealed. Provided always, that such repeal shall in no wise affect or annul any indictment or other proceeding, had or to be had under the said act or acts, for offences against the same, but that the same shall and may be proceeded in and prosecuted to effect in regard to all or any offences heretofore committed against those acts, or any of them in the same way, as if this act had not been made.
A. Passed November 5, 1818.