PRIMARY DOCUMENT

“An ACT to purchase Pharoah and Tom” (1801)

CONTEXT

In “An ACT to purchase Pharoah and Tom,” passed on January 14, 1801, the General Assembly authorizes the freedom of two slaves who betrayed Gabriel’s Conspiracy the previous August.

Author: General Assembly
    Transcription Source: Samuel Shepherd, ed., The Statutes at Large of Virginia, From October Session 1792, to December Session 1806, Inclusive, in Three Volumes, (New Series,) Being a Continuation of Hening (Richmond, Virginia: Samuel Shepherd, 1835), 2:273.

    FULL TEXT

    Whereas sound policy dictates, that rewards should be held out to those who have rendered essential service to our country:

    1. Be it therefore enacted by the general assembly, That the governor be authorized and requested to purchase and set free, on behalf of this commonwealth, Pharoah, a slave, the property of Philip Sheppard, and Tom, a slave, the property of Elizabeth Sheppard; the amount of said money to be paid out of any money in the treasury.

    2. This act shall commence and be in force from and after the passing thereof.

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    January 14, 1801
    In "An ACT to purchase Pharoah and Tom," the General Assembly authorizes the freedom of two slaves who betrayed Gabriel's Conspiracy the previous August.
    CITE THIS ENTRY
    APA Citation:
    General Assembly. “An ACT to purchase Pharoah and Tom” (1801). (2020, December 07). In Encyclopedia Virginia. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/an-act-to-purchase-pharoah-and-tom-1801.
    MLA Citation:
    General Assembly. "“An ACT to purchase Pharoah and Tom” (1801)" Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, (07 Dec. 2020). Web. 01 Jun. 2023
    Last updated: 2020, December 07
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