| 1796. |
LAWS of MARYLAND.
|
CHAP.
LXVII.
Certain slaves
may be removed,
&c. |
XI. And
be it enacted, That if any citizen of this state hath acquired or
shall
acquire property in any slave or slaves, being residents of any of
the United
States before the twenty-first day of April, in the year seventeen
hundred and
eighty-three, or in the descendant or descendants of such slaves, being
residents
as aforesaid, by marriage, bequest, in course of distribution, or as
guardian,
such citizens may remove and bring such slave or slaves into this state,
for the
purpose only of employing or working such slave or slaves within this
state, as
herein before mentioned, and not for sale; provided, that a list of
such slave or
slaves be rendered in the manner herein before directed by a citizen
of this state,
on his bringing slaves into this state as herein before allowed; and
provided also,
that the owners of such slaves may sell them after such slaves have
been residents
for three years within this state. |
Part of an act
repealed. |
XII. And be it enacted,
That all that part of an act, entitled, An act to
prevent disabled and superannuated slaves being set free, or the manumission
of
slaves by any last will and testament, which is contained within the
third section
thereof, shall be and is hereby repealed. |
Freedom may
be granted by
will, &c. |
XIII. And be it enacted,
That from and after the passage of this act, it shall
and may be lawful for any person or persons, capable in law to make
a valid will
and testament, to grant freedom to, and effect the manumission of,
any slave or
slaves belonging to such person or persons, by his, her or their last
will and
testament, and such manumission of any slave or slaves may be made
to take
effect at the death of the testator or testators, or at such other
periods as may be
limitted in such last will and testament; provided always, that no
manumission
hereafter to be made by last will and testament shall be effectual
to give freedom
to any slave or slaves, if the same shall be in prejudice of creditors,
nor unless
the said slave or slaves shall be under the age of forty-five years,
and able to
work and gain a sufficient maintenance and livelihood, at the time
the freedom
given shall commence. |
Parts of former
acts repealed. |
XIV. And, whereas
it is contrary to the dictates of humanity, and the principles
of the christian religion, to inflict personal penalties on children
for the
offence of their parents, Be it enacted, That all those parts of an
act, entitled,
An act relative to servants and slaves, and of another act, entitled,
A supplementary
act to the act, entitled, An act relating to servants and slaves, which
impose servitude to the age of thirty-one years n the issue of certain
inordinate
copulations, mentioned in the twenty-sixth, twenty-seventh and twenty-eight
sections of the said first mentioned act, and in the second and third
sections of
the said last mentioned act, shall be and they are hereby repealed,
provided
always, that nothing in this act shall affect the right of any person
or persons
whatsoever to the servitude of any such issue heretofore acquired under
the repealed
parts of the act aforesaid. |
Penalty on
persons, fraudulently
exporting
free
negroes, &c. |
XV. And be it enacted,
That from and after the passage of this act, if any
person or persons shall forcibly or fraudulently transport or carry,
or cause to be
transported or carried, out of this state, any free negro or mulatto,
knowing
such negro or mulatto to be free, every such person or persons shall
forfeit and
pay the sum of eight hundred dollars for every negro or mulatto so
transported
or carried, or caused to be transported or carried, one half to the
use of the
county in which the recovery may be had, and the other to the informer,
to be
recovered by action of debt, or bill of indictment; and of the said
sum be not
paid, or secured to be paid, as herein directed, within thirty days
after judgment,
then such person or persons shall and may be adjudged by the court
to serve on
the roads for any period not exceeding five years; and if any person
or persons
shall transport or carry, or cause to be transported or carried, out
of this state,
any negro or mulatto entitled to freedom at a certain age, and sell
or otherwise
dispose of, or cause to be sold or otherwise disposed of, out of this
state, such
negro or mulatto as a slave for life, or for a longer time than he
has to serve by
law, knowing such negro or mulatto to be entitled to freedom at a certain
age,
every such person or persons shall, for every such offence, forfeit
and pay the |
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